All Fall Down
by midnightread
Summary: It all starts with the three legged race at the police picnic but the case they get soon after could turn everything upside down
1. Chapter 1

**Was watching Cuffed and the comment about the police picnic gave me this idea and since I hanv't written in a while I decided to try the idea.**

**To anyone who is reading my other stories, sorry they havn't been updated recently but my laptop broke and has had to go get fixed and my work is all on that. hopefull getting it back at the weekend so they should be updated soon.**

**Disclamer: don't own Castle or the characters**

* * *

><p>Beckett smiled, remembering when she had mentioned this. It had been a joke but Castle had taken it seriously, obviously.<p>

She looked down at their tied legs. They were doing the three-legged race at the police picnic. Castle looked at her and, seeing the smile on her face, asked, "Something funny Beckett."

She shrugged, "Just remembering when I mentioned doing this."

Castle nodded but instead of smiling her shivered, "I still can't go to the zoo you know, for some reason tigers now scare the hell out of me."

Beckett laughed and soon Castle was laughing along with her. They were still laughing when a joined Esposito and Ryan hobbled over. "What's so funny guys?"

Beckett and Castle managed to stop laughing, although both of them had tears streaming down their faces they'd been laughing so hard. Castle looked at Beckett and then at the boys, "Just reminiscing about Tony?"

"Tony?" Ryan asked, looking puzzled.

"The tiger," Beckett said, wiping the tears off her face, "Castle was just saying how much they scare him now, he's such a little girl." She smirked and Castle looked at her, raising his eyebrow.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me that you're completely happy with tigers now."

She shrugged, "Not really."

They looked at each other, staring into each other's eyes, until Esposito cleared his throat, "Come on guys, the race is about to start."

The four of them walked, with varying degrees of success, to the start line. When they were standing on the line Castle put his arm around Beckett's shoulder and she put hers around his waist.

It felt weird to the both of them but it also felt right, but before either of them could think any further than that the police chief stepped forward and pointed the start gun into the air.

"Let's go partner," Beckett said, giving Castle a smile and then looking down the track.

The chief fired the gun and they started. Looking around Beckett could see that her and Castle were by far the most coordinated, and she guessed it showed how much time they spent together and how well they knew each other, that they were able to move in perfect synchronization. Looking behind them she saw that Ryan and Esposito were on a heap on the floor, right at the start, having tried to both move their right legs at the same time. Beckett laughed and then faced forward again. "Look back quickly, Esposito and Ryan are already on floor."

Castle turned his head, and catching sight of the Detectives, laughed. He turned back to face forwards so he and his partner didn't end up in a hopeless heap as well.

"Nearly there Castle," Beckett said. Their rhythm was still good and they were still first and first by a long way.

They crossed the finish line, and saw Lanie laughing at them. Lanie looked down at their feet and began to say something, her laughter dying down.


	2. Chapter 2

Castle and Beckett walked towards her and the finish line they had just crossed tangled round their legs and they ended up on the floor, Castle on his back and Beckett on top of him. They looked at each other, Lanie stopping and looking down at them in concern. They burst out laughing and tried to get up, which ended badly, since they were still tied together.

They fell down again, Beckett still on top of Castle and both still laughing hysterically.

Ryan and Esposito crossed the line and went over to stand beside Lanie. Beckett rolled to the side and the two of them lay on the floor, still laughing uncontrollably. They looked up at Lanie and the guys and saw that the rest of the partners from the three legged race were standing around them, watching them lie on the floor laughing.

It took them five minutes to calm down enough to talk. Taking deep breathes to try and calm herself Beckett looked at Castle and said, "Still want to join the circus?"

"Uh no thanks, don't like tigers remember." He said it seriously, or at least as seriously as he could given how much he was still shaking.

That comment set them off again. This time it took Lanie and the guys to stop the laughing, or at least quieten them down. Lanie said, in a voice that was both stern and full of happiness, "OK you two, what the hell have you been drinking that's put you in this mood?"

Beckett nearly turned to look at Castle but realised that that would be a bad idea since it was more likely to just start the laughing again.

"Aw come on Lanie, we're just laughing." Without looking at him Beckett knew that Castle was pouting.

Lanie looked at them like they were crazy, "Whatever writer boy. Just get up so they can have the next race."

Beckett looked around and realised that they were still lying on the finish line.

She looked at Castle, taking deep, even breathes, and said, "Come on Castle. We're in the way."

Castle nodded and said, "On the count of three inside foot first."

Beckett nodded and Castle counted. When he got to three they got up and this time stayed up.

Castle arm went back round Beckett shoulder and her arm back round his middle, same as for the race but this time they both held a little tighter, since they were still shaking and both her tears streaming down their faces making it difficult to see and walk. Together they walked out of the way and over to where they had been sitting before the race.

Together they sat down, thankfully not falling over again. Lanie and the boys came and joined them, the three of them giving the writer and his muse strange looks. Looking between them Esposito said, "You planning on untying yourselves anytime soon?"

The two of them looked at their still bound legs, "Um, yeah," Castle said, reaching down to pick at the knot. It was soon undone and they moved their legs apart, flexing their ankles.

As they sat back on the picnic blanket the two of them looked at the two Detectives and the M.E. The three of them were still giving them funny looks, "What?" Beckett asked, "You've seen me laugh before, so what the hell is with the funny looks?"

Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Castle was shaking again, "Castle, please don't start laughing again, you'll set me off." She turned to look at him, giving him a weaker version of her Beckett glare. It obviously worked since he stopped shaking although she could see that he was struggling. Turning away from him and back to the others she turned her glare on them.

The glare obviously was effective since Lanie soon said, "Yes we've seen you laugh before Kate. But none of us have seen you laugh so hard or so long."

Beckett shrugged her shoulders. "It's a beautiful day and I feel happy and it's his fault."

"Hey," Castle said, indigently.

They looked at each other, trying not to catch each other's eyes but failing. They quickly looked away, both feeling the laughter that was about to burst forth.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter 3. I like were this is going but it is taking a while since my brother seems to think kicking my chair will hurry me up. Anyway... here's chapter 3, enjoy :)**

The five of them sat and ate Lanie, Esposito and Ryan still looking at Beckett and Castle funnily, and talked. They talked about anything and everything, but nothing of any real importance. When they finished eating the conversation turned more serious, Lanie still wondering about why Beckett was so happy today.

Lanie, knowing Beckett as she did, knew that Beckett wouldn't talk in front of the guys, so she asked her best friend if she would go for a walk with her. Beckett through her a questioning look but agreed.

Together they walked off across the park. After they were out of the guys eye shot Lanie turned to Beckett. "Spill girl. What is up with you today?"

Beckett shrugged, "I'm happy Lanie. What's so wrong with that?"

"There's nothing wrong with that Kate, but like I said, I haven't ever seen you this happy."

Lanie stopped talking and Beckett looked at her, thinking over her reply, then she said, "I feel free, I realised something big and it's like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders." Beckett lit up with a smile.

The smile made Lanie do a double take, she liked seeing Kate this happy but it was still strange. "What have you realised?"

Beckett looked away, the smile beginning to leave her face.

Lanie saw and then said, "Ok Kate, don't tell me if you're not ready but when you are, tell me. But for now just leave it, I love seeing you this happy."

Beckett looked at Lanie again and she nodded, "Thanks Lanie. I will tell you but not right now."

The two of them stood for a while longer, watching each other then together they turned and walked back to the boys.

After the girls had sat down Castle looked at Beckett and said, in a quiet voice next to her ear, "What's up?"

Beckett shook her head, "Nothing Castle."

"You know I don't believe you Kate," he paused, and Beckett had to repress the shiver that he had caused by calling her by her first name, "But since you don't want to tell me, and since the boys and Lanie are here, I'll drop it."

He moved back and left Beckett to think. That was the second time in about ten minutes that people who tended to want to know everything, especially when the both of them thought something was wrong. Thinking about it she must have looked really happy and if the way she felt was anything to go by, her friends were right, and liked that they weren't pushing her.

Soon Alexis and Martha turned up along with Jenny. The three of them sat and they were soon all laughing again, although Castle and Beckett in a more controlled manor.

At one point Esposito and Ryan decided to tell the new arrivals about the three legged race. "We all knew they were good together but we didn't realise how good until they won the race without falling once," Esposito smirked at Beckett and Castle as he finished smirking.

Beckett smiled an evil smile that wiped the smirk of Esposito's face and casually Beckett reached over and punched him in the arm, "Don't Esposito, or I will you make you hurt." The smile on her face was most effective as Esposito swallowed and nodded slowly.

Behind them the others were laughing and then Beckett caught Castle's eye and they were soon both laughing their heads off. Laughing more than the others but not as much as they had been after the race.

Alexis looked between them and said, in a stage whisper to Martha, "When was the last time Dad was this laughy?"

Martha shrugged but Lanie asked, "You're Dad is the same as Kate?"

Alexis raised her eyebrows, not understanding the question.

"Kate hasn't been this happy in all the time we've known her and now you're saying that your Dad is happier too?"

"Um yeah," Alexis said, "I guess I am."

The group looked at the still laughing writer and Detective. Then Lanie voiced the thought that was going through all their heads, "There has to be something going on between those two."

**Go ahead and push the little blue button down below, you know you want to :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Heres the next chapter. Sorry that it took a while but I had to fight with my brother for the computer but I'm getting my laptop back soon so that will be sorted soon.**

The rest of the picnic passed without incident, and without Castle and Beckett ending up in hysterics. The group soon parted ways, Jenny and Ryan walking off together and a reconciled Lanie and Esposito soon following. Without really thinking about it Castle turned to Beckett just as they were about to part ways, him to go back to his loft with his family and her to go back to her apartment alone. "Hey Beckett, do you want to come over tonight for tea?"

Beckett looked at Castle, something he couldn't place in her eyes, "I couldn't Castle, I don't want to intrude."

Before Castle could tell her that she would inconvenience him Alexis said, "Yeah Detective, come over, its movie night."

Beckett looked between the smiling faces of Castle and Alexis and thought for a moment, it would be nice not to spend the evening alone but she really didn't want to wreck their family evening.

As if reading her mind Castle said, "Come on Beckett, I wouldn't of invited you if you were going to get in the way or wreck our evening."

"How..." she stopped herself, she knew that Castle knew her well enough to know her reasons for not coming, "Fine Castle, you win," she looked down at what she was wearing, "But I need to go and shower and change first."

Castle nodded, "Come round anytime Detective, we'll be waiting."

Beckett nodded and then watched as Castle, Alexis and Martha hailed a cab and left. Hailing her own cab she said to herself, in a quiet voice, "Well this should be interesting."

About an hour later Beckett was stepping out of the lift on Castles floor. She walked over to the door and knocked.

The door was soon opened by a smiling Martha with Alexis behind her. "Detective," Martha said, opening the door and stepping aside.

"It's Kate Martha," she looked over at Alexis, "You too Alexis."

They both smiled and they all turned towards the kitchen when they heard Castle say, "Does that mean I get to call you Kate too?"

Beckett looked at him, "Only if I can call kitten Castle."

She smirked but stopped as Castle came over and whispered in her ear, "I asked you not to call me that Detective."

"I know but you did ask for it."

Castle shook his head and went back to the kitchen.

Martha and Alexis sat, Alexis on the sofa and Martha in the arm chair, "Sit down Kate," Martha said, seeing that the Detective was still standing.

"Yeah," Alexis said, patting the sofa next to her, "Come and sit next to me and you can tell us how the three legged race went."

Beckett sat and then turned towards Alexis, "Well we won. Turns out me and your Dad work well together."

From the kitchen the three of them heard Castle say, "We already knew that Beckett. We got cuffed together and didn't get eaten by a tiger, so I'd say that we were good together."

Beckett shook her head, then smiled at the memory of them hanging onto the ceiling with the tiger pacing underneath them.

"Ah Richard," Martha said, "That explains why you wouldn't go with Alexis to the zoo."

Alexis and Martha laughed and before long Beckett was joining in too.

The three of them chatted for a little while longer before Castle came out carrying a glass dish which he placed on the table, after Alexis had placed a woven mat down to protect the table from the hot dish.

He went back into the kitchen and came out carrying four plates and three wine glasses. He went back into the kitchen one last time and got a bottle of red wine.

He sat on the sofa, on the other side of Beckett and gave her a wine glass which he then filled.

Taking a sip of her wine she said, "So what we eating Castle?"

He lifted the lid off of the dish and said, "Lasagne."

"Oh," Alexis said, "You made lasagne. I love your lasagne Dad but where are the chips?"

Castle cursed and got up quickly and went back into the kitchen. Beckett looked between Martha and Alexis and they all smiled.

Castle came out the kitchen carrying another dish. Alexis moved another mat and he placed it down then took off the oven gloves and put them on the arm of the sofa.

He picked up the top plate and turned to Beckett, "Guests first," he said as he dug out a portion of the steaming pasta. He put it on the plate and then scooped up some chips and put them on too. He handed the plate to Beckett, who took it and placed it on her knee.

As Castle dished up portions for his daughter and mother Beckett took a bite and nearly groaned with pleasure. Swallowing she said, "This is amazing Castle." She ate one of the chips and then asked, "What's on the chips?"

Castle dished up his own portion and sat down before answering, "It's just potatoes with a mix of sea salt, black pepper, lemon and seaweed."

"This is really good Castle, I didn't realise you could cook," she took another big bite and then sipped her wine.

Alexis said, swallowing her mouthful of food, "This has been my favourite for years. You should have come over before Kate."

Martha said, in a voice that carried clear meaning, "Yes Rickard, you should have invited Kate over before," she paused, then smirking added, "She can cook after all."

Castle chocked on the mouthful of lasagne he had just eaten and Beckett looked down at her plate, feeling a blush creep onto her cheeks.

After getting his breath back Castle looked at his mother and said, "Mother, that's not funny. Don't embarrass Beckett."

Martha snorted but said nothing more, just continued to eat her meal.

**The seasoning I mentioned is the stuff my mum uses on potato wedges which I love.**

**Hope you liked it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's chapter 5. I hope you all like it,**

After they'd eaten and cleaned up Martha had left, saying that she was going out with some acting friends. After she had said bye and had walked out the door Castle had gone and made popcorn, asking Beckett and Alexis to chose a film for them to watch.

In the kitchen Castle got out the popcorn machine and put in the corn kernels and syrup. As he waited for the machine to finish he thought about what a great day this had been. The picnic had been fun, the race amazing and then the hysterical laughter had made the day. And now Beckett was in his apartment, eating dinner with him and his family and staying for a movie night.

He picked up the bowl of popcorn and went back into the lounge, and saw that Beckett and Alexis were sat in front of the TV, looking through the DVD cupboard. He smiled, looking at the two women he loved. The smile feel off his face as he realised what had just gone through his head, even if it had been in his own mind, he had just said that he loved Kate.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a coughing sound. He shook his head to clear and saw Beckett looking at him, an amused look on her face, "Day dreaming Castle?" she asked, moving back to sit on the sofa, sitting in the middle, just like she had for dinner.

"Huh?" he said, putting the popcorn on the coffee table and going to sit beside Beckett, "Um, so what film did you girls pick?"

Beckett shook her head, a small smile on her lips. Alexis held up the case for the DVD she had just put in the machine. "We're watching Chicken Run Dad, Det... I mean Kate hasn't seen it before."

Castle looked at Kate, "You've never seen Chicken Run? You really need to spend less time at work, that film is a classic."

Beckett didn't rise to the bait, just turned to face TV.

Alexis pressed play then gave the remote to her father and sat down the other side of Kate.

About half way through the film, Castle moved so he was sitting in the corner of the sofa and put his arm on the back of the sofa, behind Beckett's head. He hadn't really thought it through, that was just the way he sat when he watched a movie.

He didn't even realise he'd done it, at least he didn't realise until Beckett rested her head on his arm. He stiffed slightly, worried to move in case he scared her and she would realise where his arm was in relation to her head and she would run. To his surprise, however, Kate moved her head, as if to get more comfortable and she stayed where she was. Castle relaxed and watched the rest of the film, loving the feeling that came from having Beckett's head resting on his arm.

When the film finished, Alexis said night, saying that she had some studying to do for a test in the week. After she had gone up stairs Beckett turned to Castle, her head still on his arm, and said, "I should go too Castle," she looked at her father's watch, "It's nearly nine o'clock.

He shook his head, "Stay Beckett, you can sleep in the spare room or you can go later."

She thought for a moment, "Your spare room sounds nice Castle." She yawned.

He noticed it and said, "Do you want to go to bed now or do you want to watch another film?"

She was tired yes, but she loved the feeling of resting her head on his arm, so she said, "Another film Castle. I'm not ready to go to bed yet."

Castle smiled then said, in a quiet voice, "You're going to have to move your head Kate."

The use of her first name sent a shiver through her body. She moved her head and Castle brought his arm to his side then got up and sorted out the DVD player.

"Hey Beckett," he turned to look at her, "What do you want to watch?"

She shrugged, "I trust you Rick," she noticed a shiver, similar to the one that had just travelled through her body; go up his spine, "You pick."

He turned back to the TV and she saw him turn off the DVD player and then come back to sit beside her on the sofa. He pushed a few buttons on the remote and the titles for Temptation Lane come on. She looked at the man sitting next to her, "You remembered."

"I remember everything you say Kate." He said it in such a quiet and sincere voice that Beckett couldn't help but look at her knees, feeling a blush rising on her cheeks.

Castle sat like he had before, his back in the corner of the sofa and his arm resting of the back of the chair. Beckett leaned back against him, but this time she moved slightly closer, so she was lying slightly and was closer to Castle.


	6. Chapter 6

Kate woke up, surrounded by warmth. She looked around and realised she was lying on Castle's chest and his arm was around her shoulders, holding her close to his body as they slept. She realised that sometime during Temptation Lane they had both fallen asleep and she had gravitated towards his warmth.

She looked at her watch, it was midnight, then she looked up at the man she had been sleeping against.

As she looked at his sleeping face, she raised her hand and touched his cheek, feeling the stubble that came from not having shaved yet. She ran her fingers along his jaw and smiled, she could get used to this, waking up in Castle's arms.

She felt Castle stir beneath her hand and went to move away. She hadn't got far before Castle free hand grabbed hers and held it to his face, inhaling her scent. He opened his eyes and looked down at Beckett, then realising what he was doing let go of her hand, hoping that she wouldn't kill him for what his still asleep brain had done.

He was surprised when she didn't move away but said, "Morning Castle."

He blinked then said, "I must be dreaming. I held your hand and you didn't kill me."

Beckett smiled, and then pinched his ear.

He shot up, displacing her, and said, "Ow, what was that for?"

"To prove you're not dreaming Rick."

They looked at each other for a long minute, then Beckett broke the silence, "Last summer," she started and then paused. After taking a moment to compose her thoughts she continued, "Last summer, when you came to see me in the hospital, I lied."

Castle looked at her for a moment and then what she had said sunk in, "You mean, all this time, you remembered what I'd said."

Beckett nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She looked into Castle's eyes and saw the ager there. In a voice no louder than a whisper she said, "I'm sorry Castle. I wasn't sure how I felt about it all and I just wanted to get away from everything that reminded me of the case, and you were the thing that reminded me of it the most."

He shook his head, "Don't apologise yet Detective," Beckett saw pain flash across his face, "I have something to tell you too."

He got up and started to walk towards his office. After three steps he realised that Beckett was still sitting on the sofa, he turned back to look at her, "Beckett, please just come with me please."

She hesitated for half a second then stood up and walked over to him. Without speaking he walked towards his office. Beckett followed.

Once inside the office Castle went to the whiteboard and pushed the power button. Seeing what came up on the screen Beckett gasped and looked at Castle, "What the hell is this?"

She went to the board and pressed her picture. What came next made her gasp. It was her case, her shooting case. The case that Castle had asked her to back off from. She turned to Castle, anger flaring in her but before she could say anything Castle said.

"I'm sorry Kate but please let me explain."

All Beckett wanted to do was run, but she knew she owed Castle at least that. She nodded and Castle spoke, his voice quiet and faltering.

"After your shooting, a man called me, he said he was a friend of Montgomery's. He told me that Montgomery had sent him a package that was for keeping Roy's family safe, and for keeping you safe. The only condition was that I got you to drop the case; he could only keep you safe if you weren't working on the case."

Pointing at the board, Kate asked, in a voice full of anger, "So what's this?"

He answered in a voice, filled with just as much anger as hers, "This is me, carrying on the case. Just because you can't do it, doesn't mean that I can't look into it, in an indirect way."

They looked at each other, their eyes searching each other's faces and expressions. They sat for a while, just watching each other.

When Beckett spoke, Castle jumped, "We really messed this up haven't we Castle."

He nodded, "I'm sorry Beckett, but all I wanted to do was keep you safe."

She left over to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I know Castle." She pushed her face into his shoulder, inhaling his smell. His arms went round her waist and he held her close.

Pulling her face back, Beckett looked up at Castle, "I figured out something a while ago Castle, and even after this, I love you too."

Castle looked at her, and then slowly, hesitantly, moved his face closer to hers and kissed her on the lips.

When he let her go, in a voice shaky from what had just happened, Beckett said, "I'll take it from that you still feel the same."

"I love you Kate Beckett and I always will," was all Castle said, before kissing her once more.

This time it was Beckett that pulled away, "What does this mean for us Rick?" She was shocked at by how easily his name rolled of her tongue, after calling him Castle for four years she thought that it would have sounded weird, but no, it sounded right.

"This means Kate, that I'm never ever letting you go."

**Not sure if this is going to be the last chapter or not. Thanks for reading**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well I guess I'm carrying on with the story**

They stood in each other's arms for a while longer before Rick said, "I think it's time for bed Kate."

She looked at him, and in a quiet voice, as if she wasn't really sure if she wanted him to know the answer or not, "Can I stay with you?"

"We'd already decided that you were staying in the guest room Kate." As he spoke, Castle untangled himself from Kate and began to walk through to the lounge.

Kate followed, "I know that Rick, but that's not what I meant. I meant can I sleep with you?"

He looked at her, shook on his face. Kate rolled her eyes, "I don't want this night to end Rick. Bits of it were hard but I wouldn't have it any other way."

Rick smiled, and then turned off the TV and looked at her, a smile on his face. He didn't say anything, just held out his hand, which she took, and walked back into his office and then into his room.

He let go of her hand and went to his draws, and pulled out one of his t-shirts. He turned back to her, "You ok to sleep in this?"

She looked at the tee then nodded, taking it from him. He nodded towards the en-suite. She went in and shut the door. She sat in the toilet seat and thought about what had just happened. She had told Rick that she loved him and that she remembered and he had shown her his big secret, that he was carrying on her investigation, with the risk of being killed. She got changed then looked down at the borrowed tee. She laughed; it said _I'm with stupid_ and had an arrow pointing to the left.

She went back into the bedroom and saw that Rick was already in bed and the duvet was turned down beside him. She went and lay next to him, the arrow on the tee pointing at him. Rick gave her a funny look and she said, "You're the one who gave me the shirt Rick."

He shrugged, "And it looks better on you than it ever did on me."

They both laughed and Kate moved across so she was lying against him. He reached over her and pulled the cover over her, covering the both of them. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. She reached and put her arm across his chest and the other one around his waist.

"Love you Castle."

"Love you too."

The next thing either of them knew, Kate's phone was going off, waking the two of them from their blissful and deep sleep. Kate groggily reached for the draw beside her but when she couldn't find her phone. She sat up and saw her jeans and realised her phone was still in the pocket.

She sighed and got up and reached the pile of clothes just as the ringing stopped. Picking up her jeans she pulled out her phone and saw that she had a missed call from Esposito. She turned to Rick, who was propped up against the wall and watching her. "Looks like there's a body Rick and I need to go home and change."

He nodded, "Give me ten minutes to get showered and dressed and then we can go together."

She thought for a moment, then nodded. "Ok Rick. I'll make some coffee while I wait."

He went into the bathroom and she picked up her clothes from the floor. Making sure the door to the en-suite was shut she quickly got changed back into yesterday's clothes. After folding Rick's tee up and putting it on the bed, she walked out of his room and into the kitchen. Looking around she put coffee beans into the machine and turned it on.

Ten minutes later, Rick walked out of his room, fully dressed but his hair still wet. Coming to stand beside Kate he said, "You ready to go?"

She nodded, then said, "Don't you want your coffee?"

He looked down at the counter, seeing the cup that she had made or him. Picking it up he turned and pulled a blue travel mug out of the cupboard. He poured his coffee into the mug then turned back to Kate, "Let's go Kate. You still need to get changed and everything, I'll drink on the way."

She smiled, "Ok Rick." She looked down at her half-finished cup, "You got another mug?"

He turned back to the cupboard and pulled out another mug, this one pink, "Sorry about the colour," he said, taking her cup and pouring the rest of her coffee into the mug.

Taking the mug from him she said, "No worries Rick." She looked at her watch, "We really need to go."

Castle nodded and they left together.


	8. Chapter 8

**Since I couldn't upload anything yesterday it looks like you're going to get three updates today.**

They both got into the car and Kate pulled away from the garage. The drive to her apartment was made in silence, the only sound heard was the sips of coffee that they both took every so often.

When they reached her apartment Kate parked and they both got out. Turning to Rick, Kate said, "Rick, after what happened last night, you know how I feel, right," she waited for him to nod and when he did she continued, "You know how I feel and that's all that's important right now, so I would rather you didn't say anything to the guys when we get to the scene." He nodded again. "Good," Kate said, turning and walking over to her building. Turning back to look at the still motionless Rick she said, "Come on Rick."

Together they went up to her apartment, and after ten minutes, a quick shower a change of clothes and refills for their coffee the both of them were back outside and getting into the car.

Realising that she wasn't sure where she was going Kate called Esposito. When he picked up she said, in a cheery voice, "Sorry I missed your call Espo, I didn't hear my phone go off." Kate paused for a minute, listening to Esposito's reply before saying, "So where am I going?" After Esposito told her the address and she told him she would be there in ten she hang up and turned to Rick, "Sounds like a straight forward case, looks like a home invasion gone wrong." Rick nodded and Kate pulled away from the curb and drove to the crime scene.

The drive to the crime scene was just as silent as the drive to Kate's apartment. When they got there, they looked at each other, and by unspoken agreement got out, leaving the travel mugs in the car, they did not want to have to answer the questions that Esposito and Ryan would surely ask if they arrived together and both had travel mugs. Both Rick and Kate knew that the guys minds would jump to the conclusion that they had spent the night together, and while the conclusion was right, they didn't want the boys to know that quiet yet.

They walked into the motel and the officer by the lift told them it was the sixth floor, room 611. They got into the lift and pushed the button for the sixth floor. As soon as the doors closed, Rick pushed Kate into the corner and kissed her on the lips. After a moment of shock she responded then pushed him away. "What was that for Castle?"

"I wanted a good morning kiss Detective." He gave her a sheepish smile.

She smiled, "Took you long enough Rick, but don't get used to it, you can't kiss me at work or the boys will be able to tell that something has changed between." She gave him another quick kiss on the lips and then the lift dinged and she walked out. As she walked down the corridor she turned and said, "They are detectives after all."

Castle got out of the lift and followed her into the room. They quickly looked around the wrecked room; the coffee table was the wrong way up and the sofa cushions where spread across the floor. There was paper strewn across the floor as well.

"Ah Beckett, so nice you could finally join us." Beckett and Castle in the direction of the voice and saw a smirking Ryan and Esposito standing in the doorway.

Beckett glared at them and the smirks went, although not completely. "Where's the body?" Beckett asked, walking over to them.

Esposito gestured over his shoulder, "In there with Lanie."

She nodded and then walked past them. Castle went to follow but the boys blocked him, "Whys she so late?"

Castle shrugged, "How the hell am I meant to know guys."

The boys stared at him but he gave nothing away and they let him past.

Lanie and Beckett were kneeling beside the victim. Castle went over and listened to what Lanie was saying. "…three shots to the chest, one to the stomach and then one to the head."

Castle looked at the body, lying on the bed, and then quickly looked back at Kate, how had turned to face Lanie and was asking, "Time of death?"

"Just after midnight," she said, looking at the body and then at Beckett.

Beckett looked at Castle and remembered what they had been doing a midnight; midnight was when all the secrets they had been keeping from each other had come to light.

Kate was snapped out of her remembering by Lanie saying, "There's no idea, officers have searched the room and they haven't found a wallet so I'm guessing the intruder took it. When I get him back to the morgue I'll do a print search and see what I get."

Beckett nodded, "Call me when you get something."

Lanie nodded and Beckett got up and turned to Castle, "Come on Castle, let's see if Ryan and Esposito have anything for us."

They walked out of the room, and went to find the boys. They found them going through the table side draws, obviously double checking that there wasn't any ID for the John Doe next door. "Found anything?" Beckett asked, leaning against the door frame. Castle came in and leaned on the wall beside her, close enough for her to feel the heat radiating off him. She tried to ignore the feeling that the warmth caused, and concentrated on the boys, who were currently turning around to look at her.

"Nothing," Ryan said, "No ID for the John Doe."

Beside him Esposito added, "Looks like a simple robbery but the thing is, the only thing that's missing is the vic's wallet, we've found a hundred bucks in the draws and his watch and phone were in what's left of the lounge."

Beckett, figuring out where this was going, said, "So you think that the robbery is a cover?"

The boys both nodded and Beckett turned to Castle, who said, in a quiet voice that only she could hear, "Damn, and I thought I was going to be able to invite you around again tonight."

She swatted him away and said, "I'm going back to the precinct, you two come back when you've done all you can here, and you," she said, turning back to look at Castle, "If you can shut up you can come with me."

"My lips are sealed Beckett."

Beckett rolled her eyes and Ryan and Esposito laughed. "Like that will last long," Beckett said, turning and leaving.

Castle followed and they left the building and got into the car, heading back to the precinct.


	9. Chapter 9

**Not really sure about writing about the case but I'm giving it a go anyway.**

On the way to the precinct, Castle rested his hand on her thigh, not high enough to be inappropriate but high enough to be a little distracting, but she didn't move his hand, she liked the feel of it.

They were nearly back at the precinct when Castle said, "Can you drop me off here please Kate."

She looked over at him, "Sure Rick, but um why?"

Rick shrugged, "I want breakfast, and more coffee."

Kate laughed, "Fair enough."

She stopped and he got out. Before shutting the door he said, "I'll walk back and see you in a bit."

Kate smiled and drove off.

Watching the tail lights of the car go back into traffic Rick smiled. He loved Kate and had for a while, and now it turned out she loved him too. He was still upset that she hadn't told him before that she remembered, but he knew that he couldn't be upset or angry, he had keep something massive from her too. He shook his head and turned away from the road and walked quickly to his favourite coffee shop.

Once she had gotten back to the precinct Beckett sat at her desk, going over everything that had happened yesterday. When she had told Lanie at the picnic she had figured something out she had meant that she had finally admitted to herself that she loved Rick Castle. Looking back in it Kate smiled, she really was going to have to explain to Lanie what she had meant by that, but, hopefully, Lanie would forget and she would never have to explain. Kate sighed, Lanie was not going to forget what she had said, which meant she had a day or two before Lanie asked Kate what she had figured out and Kate knew that once Lanie asked, she would have to tell her. She shook her head, at least she would have a little bit of time to get used to her and Castle before she had to tell.

She moved on in her memories, to spending the night at Castle's loft. First she thought about the moive night with Alexis, it had been fun and she hoped she would get a chance to do it again. She liked Alexis, she was a good kid and so unlike but so similar to her father that it was scary. She thought about Martha as well, she liked the old diva, and Martha had obviously seen, long ago, both hers and Rick's feelings for each other. Kate sighed and thought about what had happened, after the two of them had woken up, cuddled in the sofa.

She was angry at him, of course, but she was also angry at herself. She had remembered as soon as she had woken up in the hospital and she had still sent him away, and basically ignored him for three months. For the three months, her mind had played over and over the words he had said as she slipped into the black. She knew she should have called him, and she felt horrible that she hadn't, but, like she had said to Rick the night before, she had just wanted to get away from it all, to not remember and to give herself some room from her shooting and Roy's death. He had kept something from her too, but he had kept it from her to keep her safe while she had kept the fact she remembered from him because she wasn't ready to face it, and looking at the two secrets, his was kept to protect her and hers was kept because she was selfish.

She was so deep in thought that she jumped when Rick put down a cup of coffee and a paper bag in front of her. She looked up at him, and in a quiet voice, so no one else could hear, said, "I'm sorry Rick. We bot kept secrets but yours was too protect me and mine was because I'm selfish."

Rick shook his head. He sat in his normal chair beside her desk and leant across the table, so his face was close to hers. "You kept your secret to protect yourself Kate. I may not like it and I know you don't like that I kept my secret but we have to move on, we have to move past it. What's done is done and there is nothing we can do to change the past."

Kate nodded and quickly looked around the bull pen. Seeing no one around she quickly closed the remaining gap between hers and Rick's faces and kissed him. He kissed her back but Kate was well aware that they were sat in the middle of the bull pen and anyone and everyone could see them, so she pulled back and said, "So what's in the bag."

He shrugged, positioning himself so he was still leaning on her desk but not so close to her as he had been, "Two bear claws. Thought you might like to join me for breakfast."

Kate smiled and reached for the bag. She took out one bear claw and handed it to Rick, how took it and took a bite. She took a mouthful of her coffee and then started on her bear claw too.

They had nearly finished the bear claws and where half way through their coffee's when Esposito and Ryan walked in.

The boys reported that they had found nothing new at the scene so the four of them started on the murder board.

Sticking the photos in place Kate couldn't help but be reminded of the board in Rick's loft and when she caught his eyes she knew he was thinking the same thing. They broke eye contact quickly, but not quickly enough that Ryan and Esposito didn't notice. Kate's mobile rang so she went over to her desk and picked up with her normal, "Beckett." After a few minutes she hung up and turned to the three guys watching her, "That was Lanie. She's got an ID."

She picked up her coat and started to walk towards the lift, knowing without turning around that Rick was following close on her heels. As the two of them got into the lift Esposito turned to Ryan and said, "There's something different with them this morning. Did you see the look on Beckett's face when she caught Castle's eye."

Ryan nodded. There hadn't been much of a change in her expression but the two of them had known her long enough to know when something was up and it seemed that Castle knew exactly what it was. "Yeah, but whatever it was, they're not going to tell us."

"Yeah," Esposito said, then he turned back to the board, "So we might as well forget about it and solve this case."

With another nod Ryan turned and looked at the board, then together the two of them continued to stick up the crime scene photos and write down the little information they had.


	10. Chapter 10

**Here you go and I'm sorry it took so long. I got my laptop back but then the hard drive broke and I had to get it replaced, meaning I lost all my data. thankfully all sorted now (or at least mostly) so any stories I have going should all be getting updates soon. :)**

Castle and Beckett stood in the lift, waiting for it to reach the morgue. Since the lift was empty, they were stood in the corner, holding each other. "I really am sorry Rick," Kate said, looking into his eyes.

He shook his head and put his finger on her lips when he saw she was trying to say more. "I've already said we've both screwed up, and we know we've both screwed up, but we need to get over this and move on."

He hugged her close, and felt as she nodded into his chest. The lift dinged, signalling that they had reached the morgue and they pulled apart quickly, not wanting Lanie to them hugging in the corner. Beckett moved to leave the lift put Castle caught her arm and spun her to face him. She thought he was going to kiss her, and tensed, knowing that Lanie or someone else might see, but she relaxed again when he whispered in her ear, "I love you Kate."

Beckett smiled and turned to leave the lift. Before walking through the double doors to meet the ME she turned and said, "Ditto."

Castle smiled and the two of them went into the morgue and walked over to where Lanie was standing over the body.

The ME turned to look at them, and with a smile on her face, asked, "So, you two recovered from yesterday?"

The two of them looked at each other, looking like deer's caught in headlights them they realised that Lanie was talking about the police picnic, not about the secrets that had come to light. The two of them relaxed and Beckett said, "All good Lanie."

The ME frowned, she had seen the looks on their faces, but before she could ask them what was going on Beckett said, "So you said you had an ID for our John Doe."

Lanie looked at the two partners hard, and Beckett glared back at her. Lanie shook her head, giving up for now, and turned back to the body. Behind her back Beckett rolled her eyes and smiled at Castle. Lanie started talking and the two of them turned their attention back to her.

"John Doe is actually one Cameron Mitchell, his finger prints were in the system from an arrest a couple of years ago. I've sent Esposito and Ryan the name, so they should have more for you when you get back."

Beckett nodded, "You said at the scene cause of death was the shots, what's the murder weapon?"

"For the size of the bullets I'm going to say a .45. I've dug out the slugs and sent them to ballistics, you should get the report soon, I think they've finally managed to clear their back log."

The three of them smiled at each other then Castle and Beckett bid goodbye to Lanie and turned to leave the morgue. Lanie followed them and let Castle leave, but as Beckett went to follow him out she caught her arm and said, in a quiet voice, so the writer now waiting by the lift couldn't hear, "You owe me an explanation Kate."

Inside Kate sighed, she knew this was coming but she had really hoped she could have avoided this longer, but on the outside she had up her Detective face and she wasn't letting her irritation show. "I don't know what you mean Lanie," she said, trying, and failing, to get her arm back from her best friend.

"Imma gonna slap you girl, you know exactly what I'm talking about."

Beckett just looked at her, her face completely clear, not giving away how much this conversation was actually bothering her.

Lanie looked at her again then sighed, "You're happier Kate, happier than I have ever seen you, since the first time we met. You said yesterday that you had figured something out, and whatever it is it's good for you, but I want to know what, or who," after saying this she threw a quick look at the still waiting writer, "Has suddenly brightened your world."

Beckett sighed, she really wasn't going to get out of this anytime soon, unless she answered Lanie's questions. "Like I told you yesterday, I've figured something out," she paused and Lanie glared at her until she continued, "I'm not going to tell you what," she saw Lanie open her mouth to say something, she quickly continued, "No Lanie, I'm not going to tell you, not yet."

Lanie sighed, but let go of Beckett's arm, knowing that the detective could, and would, be very stubborn, and once she had made her mind up it would take either a miracle or a huge amount of coaxing for her to change her mind, against her will.

Beckett gave her friend a smile and then beat a hasty retreat towards her writer, who was currently playing on his phone.

As she reached him, she caught his eye and smiled, then pushed the button to call the lift.

When it arrived the two of them stepped in and once the doors had shut he turned to Beckett, "What did Lanie want."

Beckett thought for a moment before saying, "She wanted to know why I was so happy, and what, or who, was causing it." She smiled at him, then continued, "She also pointed out something that I hadn't realised," she paused, not sure how to go on.

Castle smiled at her, and in a quiet voice asked, "What did Lanie point out?"

"That this is the happiest I've been in all the time she's known me, that this is the happiest I've been since my mum died." She finished off in a quiet voice.

Castle looked at her, then pulled her into a hug. He kissed the top of her head and then she tilted her head up and kissed him on the lips.

Pulling back and looking into his eyes, Beckett said, "Thank you Rick. You make me happier than you will ever know, and I love you more than I thought was possible."

Rick didn't reply, just smiled and pulled her into another kiss. The lift dinged and the two of them jumped apart, and made sure that their hugs hadn't mussed up their clothes. The lift door opened and the two of them walked out and made their way to Beckett's desk. They bumped shoulders then Castle leaned in close and said, "Ditto detective, ditto."


	11. Chapter 11

**It's been a while since I posted the last chapter but I got writers block and when I did get any ideas I was in the middle of homework, so better late than never here's chapter 11. Enjoy :)**

The two of them sat in their respective chairs and then looked over at Ryan and Esposito, who had turned and watched the when they had got out of the lift.

Esposito kicked off his desk and rolled over to stop near the murder board. Ryan followed but had to grab hold of the back of Rick's chair when he over shot. Esposito laughed then said, "Lanie sent us the name of our John Doe and we did some digging," he paused as he rolled back to his desk to get the folder he had left behind, "His arrest was 2006 and was for disorderly conduct. He's also had a couple of parking tickets but nothing more."

Beckett nodded, "Next of kin?"

"His girlfriend. She's on her way in now."

"Good," Beckett said, "When she gets here Castle and I will talk to her." The boys nodded and Beckett continued, "In the meantime do whatever it is you two do when we're working." She smirked at the boys and in the corner of her eye saw that Castle was also smirking.

Ryan and Esposito glared at them then rolled slowly back to their desks.

Not long after Castle and Beckett went to talk to the girlfriend, who had been brought up and led into one of the conference rooms by an officer. Ryan and Esposito watched as the two of them walked over to meet the poor girl. They were walking closer than normal and Esposito could swear that he saw their pinky fingers linked. "I think they've finally got their acts together and admitted to each other how they feel," he said, watching the two of them as they sat down with the victims girlfriend.

"Huh?" said Ryan, who hadn't really been paying attention to what was going on. He followed Esposito's gaze and said, "Who, Mum and Dad?"

Esposito shook his head, "No, Castle and Lanie, of course Mum and Dad."

Ryan looked slightly offended, "I was just checking," he huffed.

Esposito shook his head again, "Do you think Lanie knows anything?"

"Why don't you ask her, she's your girlfriend."

Esposito nodded, remembering that they had finally reconnected at Ryan's reception and got over Jenny's unthinking comment about them getting married. He pulled out his phone and quickly typed, **Any idea whats going on with writer boy and the boss?** Pushing send he sat back and waited for a reply.

He didn't have to wait long. His phone buzzed and he picked up and read what Lanie had written, **Not sure but Kate said that she had figured something out when I asked her why she was so happy and I have a feeling it had to do with Castle**.

Esposito smiled and showed the text to Ryan who smiled to. Quickly, seeing that Beckett and Castle were coming towards them he sent a text saying, **Does that mean we can settle our bets yet or not? **As soon as he finished texting he put his phone back on his desk and tried not to look too guilty.

It worked for the next five minutes, right up until Esposito got a reply from Lanie, **I'll ask her, she knows she owes me an explanation**.

Esposito smiled and Beckett looked at him sharply, having just read a text on her phone. "What the hell have you been saying to Lanie Esposito?"

Esposito shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Behind the standing and glaring Beckett Castle had taken a seat and was smirking at Esposito. Castle tapped Beckett on the elbow and she wordlessly handed him her phone, not even needing to ask what he wanted. He took it and read the text that was still on the screen, **Javi seems to think theres something up with you and writer boy, and since I have a feeling its something to do with what you figured out, you owe me an explanation**. Beckett was still glaring at the scared looking Esposito when Castle said, "Do you mind if I reply?"

Beckett looked at Castle, her gaze softening slightly, "Fine but show me before you send it."

He nodded and she turned back to continue glaring at Esposito, "I'm waiting Esposito."

Castle smirked at Esposito once more before turning his attention to Beckett's phone. He quickly typed out, **Fine, meet me for lunch in an hour at Remys**. He tapped Beckett on the elbow again and she reached back without taking her eyes of Esposito. She read it, nodded and pressed send.

A few seconds later Esposito's phone chimed and he shrunk even further into his seat when he saw who it was from. **I'm meeting Beckett in an hour, I'll settle the bets after that**.

When Castle saw the expression on the normally hard as nails detectives face he couldn't help but laugh. Beckett looked round at him and laughed too. "God Espo, you face down killers without breaking a sweat, but a pissed of Beckett turns you in a little girl," Castle said between laughs.

Beckett, still laughing, stopped glaring and went and sat at her desk. Esposito watched her go, and while he still looked mildly terrified he shoot a quick glare at Castle before looking down at his desk and avoiding the eyes of the rest of his team. Ryan walked past and sat at his desk, a smile on his face from watching his partner squirm.

Forty five minutes of adding the information that the girlfriend had given Beckett and Castle to the board Beckett stood and said, "Well I have a lunch to get to. See you later." She turned to leave, shooting Esposito a quick glare which made Castle laugh, then walked to the lift and left.

Castle watched her leave then turned back to the desk, regretting it when Esposito and Ryan stood and came over. "So then writer boy, Beckett's talking to Lanie so you can talk to us." Castle swallowed nervously, trying to think of a way out of it.


	12. Chapter 12

Beckett ended up walking to Remys. It wasn't far and she needed the time to think over how she was going to answer Lanie's questions.

Pushing open the door she sees were the ME is sitting right away. Taking a deep breath for courage she walks over and gracefully falls into the seat opposite her best friend.

"Hey girl," Lanie says, pushing across the second plate in front of her and a strawberry shake, Beckett's normal lunch order.

"Hey Lanie," Beckett said taking a sip of the shake.

"So," Lanie said, picking up a fry and eating it.

"So," Beckett answered, copying Lanie's action and eating a chip herself.

Lanie glared at her before saying, "Explain."

Beckett sighed internally but in an innocent voice asked, "Explain what Lanie?"

Lanie growled, which got them a funny look from the couple sitting behind then, but she ignored it and said, "You and writer boy, something's changed and the boys have noticed it too so don't deny it."

Beckett knew she had to explain herself, she knew she owed Lanie that much, but first she really wanted to wind her up even though she knew it was cruel but she wanted to make her squirm for the texts she and Esposito had been sending each other while she and Castle had been in the conference room. So instead of being helpful she sat and went into deny everything mode, "No idea what you're talking about Lanie."

Beckett struggled to keep a straight face, especially when she saw the look on Lanie's face. The ME looked about ready to strangle her. Lanie glared some more and Beckett finally broke and began to laugh which only made Lanie look madder. A now scowling Lanie said, "Spill girl, before Ryan and Esposito have to arrest me for murdering you."

Beckett sat for a moment more, still not answering Lanie, before saying, "So what do you want to know?"

Lanie looked at her, still looking annoyed, but she also looked slightly shocked that Beckett had given in after only minimal, minimal for Kate anyway, amount of fuss. "You said you figured something out and I have a feeling that it was something to do with writer-boy, so spill."

"You're right, I did figure something out and it was to do with Castle."

She stopped speaking and Lanie said, in an impatient voice, "So what did you figure out."

Beckett shrugged and in a noncommittal voice said, "That I love him."

Lanie was silent for perhaps a second, her brain catching up with the monumental news that Beckett had just broken in such a calm voice, before she squealed so loudly, had they been in the morgue her patients would have woken up.

Beckett smiled at her friends reaction then laughed when she saw that most of the people eating had turned and where now looking at the incredibly happy ME. "Jezz Lanie, blow out my ear drums why don't you."

Lanie clamped her hand over her mouth then said in a quiet voice, "You love him?" Beckett nodded and then Lanie continued, "Did you tell him?"

Beckett nodded again then clamped her hands over her ears as Lanie squealed again, but this time louder. "Oh my God, oh my god, oh my god," Lanie said, a smile on her face. Beckett felt her own mouth tilt into a goofy grin. "Did he say it back?"

Beckett nodded then said, "But he's said it before."

Lanie looked at her, a question in her eyes but she didn't say anything, just waited for Kate to continue.

"When I was shot, the last thing I remember before the black was him saying Kate I love you, I love you Kate."

Lanie was silent for a moment then she asked, "Does he know that you remember now?"

"I never forgot," Beckett whispered, "But we talked about it last night and we sorted it out, he was annoyed to say the least but we're even."

Lanie cocked her head to the side, "How do you mean even?"

Beckett thought for a moment. She could tell Lanie that Castle had continued to look into her mother's death and her shooting but as she thought about it she realised that she would rather keep that between the two of them for the time being. "It doesn't matter, all that matters is I love him and he loves you."

Lanie smiled, "Good. I have one question, does he make you happy?"

Without a moment's hesitation Beckett replied, "He makes me happier than I've been since my mums murder."

Lanie smiled again then said, "It's about time Kate."

She nodded, "Yes it is Lanie, yes it is."

Lanie pulled out her phone and said, "Esposito was right, there is something different with you and Castle today."

Beckett smiled and shook her head, "Go ahead and text him."

Lanie gave her a quick look then looked down at her phone and typed, **You were right, they are different, they finally admitted their feelings for each other**. She clicked send then looked back at Beckett who was about half way through her plate.

Lanie only had time to eat two fries before she got a reply from Esposito, **I knew it. Looks like we have some bets to settle**. Lanie smiled, sent a quick **Yes I believe we do**, then she looked up at Kate and saw that she was looking at her phone too.

**Help Kate, Ryan and Espo are scaring me**, Beckett laughed and showed the text to Lanie before typing back, **I'll be back as soon as possible**.

Beckett turned back to Lanie who smiled and said, "Looks like lover boys in trouble."

Beckett smirked, "When is he not?" and started eating again. Lanie smiled and ate too.


	13. Chapter 13

Castle looked at Esposito and then said, "Nope, not talking to you." He then walked, at a faster pace than normal, to the break room and started making coffee, one cup for him, one for Ryan and one for Esposito in hopes of distracting them enough to get them off his back, at least for a little while anyway.

It worked too. He handed the boys their cups and for the next twenty minutes sat on his phone, switching between writing down ideas for the next Nikki Heat book and playing Angry Birds. He heard Esposito get a text then heard as he tapped out a reply. However the next thing he knew Esposito standing in front of him. Castle looked up and Esposito said, "So you two finally admitted it then?"

"I…um…what?" Castle stuttered, not quite sure what Esposito was on about.

Esposito smirked at him and then looked at Ryan, giving him a I got writer boy all tongue tied go me look. "You and Beckett, you finally admitted your feelings."

"I…um…yes," he stuttered again, still not on the same page as the hispanic detective.

Esposito shook his head then moved slightly to the side as Ryan came to stand beside him. The two of them looked down at the still seated Castle and Esposito said in a voice that actually scared Castle, "If you hurt our girl you will regret it." Ryan stood beside him and nodded, both of them looking serious and slightly scary.

"I'm not going to hurt her, I love her," Castle said, in a quiet voice, avoiding their eyes.

The two standing detectives looked at him for one more minute then glanced at each other before going back to sit at their desk. After they had sat down Castle pulled out his phone and shot a quick text to Beckett, **Help Kate, Ryan and Espo are scaring me**. He put his phone down then picked it back up only a few seconds later when he got his reply **I'll be back as soon as possible**. Castle looked up from his phone at the boys, who were both watching him and still looked more than a little scary. **Hurry** he sent before going into the break room again to hide from Ryan and Esposito.

That was where Beckett found him ten minutes later when she came back. She walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder, he jumped and turned to look at her, his face breaking into a grin. Beckett couldn't help it, her face mirrored his. "So the boys were scaring you?"

He nodded and held her hand, knowing that anything else would get him in trouble since they were at work. "They said if I hurt you they'd hurt me. They were looking at me like a suspect and I must say being on the other side of that look is terrifying."

Beckett laughed, "They won't hurt you Rick since you won't hurt me, their just doing what brothers do."

Castle nodded, "I know, but it was still scary."

Beckett chuckled then turned to the coffee maker and started making herself a cup. Castle stopped her, "You're not drinking monkey piss in battery acid while I'm here Kate."

Beckett shook her head but stepped back and watched him as he used the espresso machine to make them both a cup of good coffee. As they waited Castle asked, "So how was Lanie?"

Beckett smiled, "Happy, squealy and I have a feeling about to come into a bit of money."

Castle laughed, "I wonder how many bets their actually are going?"

"No idea," Beckett shrugged, "More than we know about though."

"Well the boys and Lanie seem to think that we don't know about any of them."

She shook her head, "They should have known better, I am a detective after all."

Castle laughed at that, "I guess I've just spent too much time here, I think you've all begun to rub off on me."

Beckett laughed again, "Is that a bad thing?"

He shook his head, "Not a bad thing at all."

She smiled then and looked around quickly. Seeing that there was no one around she quickly pressed a soft kiss to his lips as she reached round him and picked up her cup of coffee. She walked to the door then turned back to see that Castle was still standing where she had left him, "You coming Castle."

He jerked slightly, as if her voice had broken him out of some dream, which knowing him it probably had. "Um yeah," he picked up his coffee and followed her out.

They sat at her desk and sipped on their coffee, aware that Esposito and Ryan were watching them carefully. They caught each other's eyes and smiled then went back to their coffee while looking over what little information they had.

**Not sure when the next chapter will be up since my exams have started and I have no idea how to put the ideas I have down on paper. I am however writing a NCIS Castle crossover which might be worth a read. :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Ok, so this chapter was a very long time in the making, it looks like I haven't updated it since May so I'm sorry to anyone who has been waiting for an update but better late than never right.**

They sat for hours, pouring over the murder board until Castle stood and went back into the break room to get more coffee. When he came back out he handed the cup to Beckett then looked at the board again, cocking his head to the side. "What you got Castle?" Beckett questioned.

"I'm not sure, but why cover it up with such a sorry excuse for a robbery? If they wanted it to look like a robbery gone wrong they would have taken everything so maybe they were after something that was in the wallet."

Beckett thought for a moment, "That is actually a good idea Castle." She looked at the notes she had taken when they were talking with the girlfriend. "His girlfriend said that he didn't have any enemies, that everyone loved him."

Castle raised an eyebrow, "But when is that ever true. He obviously had something someone wanted." He moved closer to her so that their arms were brushing and he began tracing patterns across her hand and slowly moved up her arm.

Kate smiled at him before whispering, "Not here Castle, I don't want Gates to see and kick you out."

Castle stopped what he was doing but leaned closer and whispered, "Gates can't make me go anywhere. She already hates me so if she tries and kicks me out calling the mayor isn't going to make her think any less of me."

Kate laughed lightly, "She doesn't hate you Castle." He raised his eyebrow and she shrugged and said, "Ok, she's not your biggest fan Castle but she doesn't hate you."

Castle laughed before turning his attention back to the board while saying, "Do you think the girlfriend would know what was in the wallet?"

Kate shrugged, "Maybe. We should go to her apartment and ask her."

Castle nodded and stood, grabbing Kate's jacket off the back of her chair and helping the detective into it. He gently pulled her hair out from under the collar before briefly touching her neck lovingly.

She shivered slightly at his touch but turned and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze before straightening his collar and walking towards the lift. Castle was still for a moment before he caught up with her just as the lift doors opened.

They both got in and pushed the button for the ground floor. Once they got out of the lift and then out of the precinct they headed towards where Beckett's unmarked was parked out front.

They drove to the girlfriend's apartment without talking, although part way there Castle did turn on the radio to break the silence.

They stopped outside her building and Beckett turned to Castle, "Please Rick, don't do something like that again, I don't want us to loose what we have because Gates kicks you out when she finds out we're together."

Castle nodded, "Ok Kate, but you are going to have to tell her at some point because I want to shout from the roof tops that the extraordinary Detective Katherine Beckett is mine all mine and no one else's."

Beckett laughed lightly before leaning across the console and kissing him briefly. "In time Rick, we'll tell her in time."

He nodded and got out of the car before walking around and opening the door for her and offering her his hand. She took it with a smile and got out before shutting the door and locking the car.

She turned away from the car and led the way to the building and up to the girlfriend's apartment, they had questions to ask.


	15. Chapter 15

They knocked on the door and stood waiting. After a few seconds Beckett knocked again and shot Castle a worried look. He moved to the side slightly and Beckett placed her hand on her gun and brought her foot up to kick in the door. Before she could kick though the door opened and the girl friend opened it wide. "Sorry," she said, wiping her eyes. It was obvious that she had been crying, "It took me a few minutes to get composed enough to open the door."

Beckett nodded her understanding and relaxed, moving her hand away from her gun. "We're sorry to disturb you again today Cynthia but we have a few more questions about Cameron if you're feeling up to it."

Cynthia nodded and moved to the side, letting Castle and then Beckett into her apartment. She shut the door behind them and then they followed her into the sitting room, "Can I get you anything?" she questioned.

Both Castle and Beckett shook their heads and sat on the sofa. Cynthia sat opposite them in the arm chair and asked, "How can I help you?"

Beckett leant forward slightly in her chair before saying in a soft, compassionate voice, "Did Cameron keep anything special in his wallet?"

"Why?" Cynthia asked, "I thought that it was simple robbery in a motel."

Beckett shook her head sadly, "We think that the robbery was just cover up, and a poor one at that. What we think his killer really wanted was whatever was in that wallet."

Cynthia looked at her hands and then around the room. Castle and Beckett both waited patiently, knowing that she needed time and when she was ready she would answer their question. They were right, a few seconds later she said, "He kept a list of names in his wallet, took it everywhere with him. He never let me see it, the only reason I even know about it is because one time he couldn't find his wallet and he got into a massive panic and then when we did find it the first thing he did was check that the piece of paper was in it."

She stopped talking and Beckett and Castle shared a look, both having theories about what the list could have been. Beckett nodded once and then asked, "I'm sorry, but we forgot to check with you why Cameron was in a motel and not in his own apartment."

Cynthia smiled weakly, "He was moving in here. He was selling his apartment and he was going to move in with me but he spent the night in motel to give me one more night on my own before he moved in and we got that damn dog he was always talking about." She took a deep breath before continuing, "Please find out what happened to him Detective, find out what happened to my Cameron."

Beckett reached across and squeezed the woman's hand, "We will do our best and I know it doesn't feel like it now but eventually you'll learn to live with it."

The woman nodded sadly and both Beckett and Castle stood and made their way to the door. Cynthia held it open for them then shut it as soon as they were clear. Castle cast a sideways look at Beckett before taking her hand gently and beginning to walk towards the lift. She followed wordlessly and the two stood in silence as the lift descended and they walked to her car, not letting go of each other until they had to get in.

Once they were in the car and Beckett had pulled away and into the traffic she said, "So come on the Castle, let me hear some of your crazy theories."

Castle was silent for a moment, he could see that Beckett was a little down after talking to the girlfriend so he thought of the most ridiculous thing he could, just to see her smile.


	16. Chapter 16

"OK, I know that you laughed at it early," Castle later said as they sat in front of the board drinking coffee, "But what about if he was a spy, and the list was names of people he had to either bug or kill."

Beckett scoffed, "Really Castle? You're coming back to that?"

He nodded, "Do you have any better ideas about what the list could have been?"

She scrunched her nose cutely before sighing and shaking her head, "Nope, I got nothing."

Castle punched the air with a laugh. Beckett laughed and grabbed his fist, pulling it back down, "That doesn't mean you're right though does it." She sighed before adding with a smile, "Next you'll be saying the butler did it."

"Oh," Castle said, "There was a butler?"

Beckett shook her head and turned back to the board. Castle moved closer and put his hand on the desk beside hers. They were close but not quite touching, they were at the precinct after all.

"We found something," Ryan said, breaking the silence as he and Esposito came over to the two of them.

"What have you got?" Beckett asked, turning to face the two of them.

Esposito smirked at them while Ryan said, "The shop opposite had some cameras installed. One overlooking the registers and the other overlooking the road, they'd been robbed too many times to rely on fake ones." Ryan noticed as Beckett elbowed Castle as his attention began to shift so he continued quickly, "We went through the tape an hour either side of the murder and we found something."

"Was it the butler?" Castle asked, smirking at Beckett.

"What?" Ryan said, "There's a butler?"

Beckett shook her head, "Ignore him Ryan. So what did you find?"

He handed her a piece of paper, "This guy is the only one to have entered and left during the time frame, anyone else who went in either came out before the time of death or not at all."

Castle watched as Beckett went to the board and pinned up the photo under the suspect column. "Any idea who he is?"

Ryan shook his head, "We're running him through facial recognition though and we'll see what comes up."

Beckett nodded, "Well you do that then have a look through his finical records, see if he made or received any abnormal payments. Castle and I will do the phone records, look for the recurring numbers."

Ryan and Esposito nodded and moved towards their desks while Castle and Beckett both moved so they were sitting behind Beckett's desk rather than on it.

A few hours later Ryan got a result, "Guys name is Albert Hammond."

"Don't meet many Albert's now a days," Castle mussed.

Beckett shook her head and ignored him. "Does he have a record?" she asked the boys instead.

"Couple of pick pocketing charges and an arrest last year for boosting a car," Esposito answered.

Beckett nodded, "He's the only lead we have apart from the list." She looked at her watch, "Have uniforms keep an eye out and go and pick him up in the morning. For now though go home and get some sleep. I'll see you back here tomorrow."

The boys nodded and headed first to their desks and then to the lift. Castle watched them go and then turned to Beckett, "Come on, you sent them home time for us to go too."

Beckett shook her head, "I'll stay for a bit."

Castle sighed, "You've already said we don't have anything Beckett. He didn't make or receive any odd call, there are no abnormal charges or deposits and it's late. You might as well call it a night."

She sighed, "Fine Castle." She let him help here into her coat, "Come on, I'll give you a ride home."


	17. Chapter 17

The next day they worked hard but couldn't break their suspect Albert so while Esposito and Ryan tried different tactics Castle and Beckett went through everything in an attempt to find something to pin him to the murder, or at least pin him to Mitchel.

Castle had just gone to get some more coffee from the break room when his phone rang. As he had left it on the desk and it was Alexis' ring tone Beckett quickly picked it up and answered it. "Hey Alexis," she said, "Your dad will be back in a minute, he's just done to get some more coffee."

"That's ok Kate," Alexis replied, "I was just ringing him to see if he could come and pick me up from school."

"Is there something wrong?" Beckett asked.

"No," Alexis said, "I was just wondering if I could have a lift to the morgue, I'm working with Doctor Parish today after school and I don't really feel like taking the subway."

"Do you want me to come and pick you up Alexis?"

"Dad coming to get me is fine, aren't you in the middle of a case," Alexis said.

"It'll be fine Alexis," Kate said, "I can leave your dad looking through the records. I could do with a break anyway."

"Thanks Kate," she heard Alexis say, "As long as you're sure I mean, I don't want to take you away from work."

"It's ok Alexis. I'll be there in ten." She hung up and put the phone back on the desk just as Castle came back with the coffee.

She smiled at him and said, "I need to go out for a bit. Alexis wants a lift to the morgue and I could do with a break. You're welcome to come."

Castle smiled but shook his head, "You go, I want to look at the phone records again, something isn't sitting right with me but I don't know what."

Beckett laughed as she picked up her jacket. "You never know Castle," she said as she headed towards the lift, "Whatever it is that isn't sitting right could well be what breaks the case."

Castle smiled and as the doors to the lift shut Beckett got a text. She pulled out her phone and smiled when she saw what was written there, **Tell Alexis I say hey**.

She replied quickly as the lift stopped and then she headed out of the building and towards where her car was parked out front.

When she reached the school she got out of the car and leant against the hood, keeping an eye out for Alexis so the girl would know she was here.

She knew she was probably going to make a bit of a stir when the school let out, she knew she looked good in her high heels, tight jeans and leather jacket, Castle had told her as much this morning when he had arrived with a coffee and bear claw. She also knew that her badge was on clear show as soon as the first group of kids walked out of the school gates. She knew because as they passed her she could hear the whispered word cop.

She smiled when she saw Alexis, the girl was walking with a group of girls and when she saw Kate she smiled. They all came towards Kate smiling and talking about something.

"How's the case?" Alexis asked when she reached her.

"Slow," Beckett answered, "Your dad is looking at the phone records again because something feels off to him. I can't see it but if he can break it then so be it."

Alexis smiled and then she said a goodbye to her friends before she climbed into the passenger seat of the crown vic. Beckett moved quickly to the driver's side and got in. She started the engine and pulled away. "Good day?" she questioned to break the silence as they drove.

"Yeah," Alexis said.

"I am sorry," Beckett said after another moment's silence, "I know you're not my biggest fan after what I put your dad through."

Alexis was silent then she asked, "Do you love him?"

Beckett nodded, "It took me a long time to be honest with myself about how I feel but yeah, I do love him."

"Then everything is alright," Alexis said, "You make him happy Kate and as long as he's happy I'm happy. But the next time you don't speak to him for three months there won't be anything left for you to come back to, it nearly killed him the last time and I know it would kill him this time."

Beckett looked at the road, not knowing what to say to that. "I'm sorry," she said after an awkward moment. There was another moment before Beckett spoke again, "I have no intention of hurting him Alexis; I love him."

The girl reached across and squeezed Beckett's shoulder, "I know Kate."

Her hand dropped back to her lap as they continued to drive in silence. Once they reached the morgue and Beckett had parked she looked over at Alexis and said, "Are we ok?"

Alexis looked at her and nodded, "Yeah, we are." She opened the car door and was about to get out when she said, "Thank you Kate, for the lift and the talk."

Beckett smiled at her, "You're welcome Alexis, and I'm not going to be leaving any time soon, I'm going to be sticking around a while."

**So this is a bit of a filler chapter but I felt that Alexis and Kate needed to talk so here it is.**


	18. Chapter 18

On her way back Beckett stopped to grab some food for everyone since they hadn't really eaten a proper lunch. It was only a couple of sandwiches but she knew the boys would appreciate it, even if Castle did complain.

The ride up to the bull pen from the garage was quick as Beckett was the only one in the lift and it didn't stop on any of the floors before she reached homicide. As she stepped out and headed to her desk she saw the boys walking out of the interrogation room, looking frustrated.

"I've got lunch," Beckett said holding up the bag.

The boys both smiled at her and they all made their way towards the break room, Beckett grabbing Castle on her way past. In the break room Castle went straight to the coffee machine while Beckett dished out the sandwiches. "Have you got anywhere?" she asked.

Ryan shook his head and took a bite out of his food while Esposito said, "He's not saying a word, hasn't even asked for a lawyer."

Beckett nodded and Castle pitched in, "Maybe he's a hitman and knows that you can't hold him for more than twenty four hours."

Beckett sighed while Ryan nodded, "Wouldn't surprise me right now. There's something about him that gives me the creeps."

Beckett had expected Esposito to scoff at his partner but he nodded too.

"What about you Castle?" she said looking to her partner, "Have you found anything?"

"I'm not sur. There's a phone number on his records that he called once a week without fail, and it wasn't his mother before you ask. The calls lasted a few minutes each but they happened every Sunday for as far back as I can find."

Beckett nodded and said, "So what's your theory Castle? I can see that you have one."

Castle shrugged as Esposito and Ryan smirked around their food. "Still think he was a spy. The call was him checking in and if Albert killed him then he was sent to clean up."

Beckett shook her head and moved closer to him, "If he was a professional then he would not have been caught on camera."

Castle's eyes flickered to her lips before back to her eyes as he said, "Maybe he was a little lax in his work? Didn't realise that there was a camera that would catch him."

Esposito cleared his throat and the two of them realised just how close they had gotten. Beckett bite her lip slightly as she took a step back, creating a gap between her and Castle.

"What about Albert?" Esposito asked as he finished off his sandwich, "Did you check his phone records?"

Castle nodded, "His records showed contact with the same number but only a few times, not once a week like with Mitchell and all of them are incoming calls including one four hours before Mitchell was shot."

That got the three detectives attention. "Before you go back in with Albert run down that number boys find out who it belongs to, it might give you some leverage."

Ryan and Esposito nodded. "What are you going to do?" Esposito asked.

"We 're going to go and speak to the girlfriend again, see if she knows anything about the phone calls or our friend in interrogation."

As she finished speaking Gates walked out of her office and came over to the break room. "How is the case going detectives?" she asked as she made herself a cup of coffee.

"We've got some leads sir," Beckett answered quickly; "We just need to follow them to get some leverage over Albert."

Gates nodded and said, "Keep me informed," before she headed back to her office and the mountain of waiting paperwork.


	19. Chapter 19

"Do you think that she'll be happier today?" Castle asked, "Cynthia I mean?"

"Her boyfriend just died Castle, what do you think?" Beckett retorted.

"I don't mean that she'll be completely fine, I was just wondering if she would be over the shock," Castle defended.

"Sorry," Beckett said, reaching across the console and squeezing his hand.

"That's ok," Castle replied, flipping his hand and squeezing back.

Beckett sighed before saying, "Well let's get this over with. The sooner we talk to Cynthia the sooner we can leave her to her mourning."

Castle nodded and opened the car door while Beckett did the same on her side.

"How was Alexis?" Castle asked as they headed into the building.

"She was fine Castle," Beckett answered with a smile as she pressed the call button for the lift.

Castle smiled, he was glad the two of them were getting on. He knew that after last summer Beckett hadn't been Alexis' favourite person on Earth but knowing that she was happy to let Beckett drive her to the morgue made him feel better. He was guessing but, from the look on Beckett's face he knew that he was likely right, everything had been fine between the two of them.

They got off the lift and like before headed to Cynthia's apartment and knocked on the door. They weren't however expecting it to swing open as soon as Beckett touched it with her fist. "Get behind me," she hissed as she upholstered her gun.

Castle obeyed without complaint or comment and then followed her into the apartment.

Beckett lowered her gun slightly when they saw what was in the apartment, or what wasn't in the apartment as it were.

"What the hell," Castle said, looking around the apartment. Yesterday there had been photos and knickknacks on the walls and the side board but now there was nothing, no personal touch, only the furniture remained.

"She's gone," Beckett said as she moved towards the back of the apartment, towards where she guessed the bedroom was.

As she walked Castle headed towards the kitchen and looked in some of the cupboards. "The cupboards are all empty Beckett," he called.

"The beds been stripped and there's no clothes in the closet," Beckett replied.

"She's not here is she?" Castle asked.

Beckett shook her head, "How she managed to clear out this whole place in such a short amount of time? There was a lot of stuff here that now isn't."

"I don't know," Castle said, turning his back to Beckett to look around once more, "But my theory about spies is becoming more and more likely don't you think."

When Beckett didn't answer, or even snigger, Castle turned back to her and felt his blood go cold as he saw a man standing slightly behind Beckett, who had a bag over her head. Before he could say anything a bag was forced over his head too.

**Hope you liked it and please review, let me know what you think.**


	20. Chapter 20

They were led through the halls of the building and to what Castle guessed was the freight elevator. Once the lift had stopped they were led to a car, which was probably parked in an alley so people didn't see what was happening to Castle and Beckett.

In the car the partners were sat next to each other in the back seats where one of the guys stayed with them and the other started the car.

Castle felt around beside him and found Beckett's hand where she had rested it on the seat. He took hold of it and gave it a squeeze, getting one in return from the woman beside him.

The ride was silent, neither of the two men making a sound. They drove for about half an hour by Castle's guess before the car stopped and the two of them were manhandled out of the car and then across some gravel. There was a creak of hinges as a door was opened and then Castle and Beckett found themselves sitting on two wooden chairs, side by side.

They both stiffened where they sat, wondering what was going to happen next. There question was answered when the hoods were pulled off. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the sudden influx of light but after blinking a few times they could see that they were inside a warehouse.

"Who are you?" Beckett demanded when she saw the two men watching them.

They didn't answer, just watched them. Because they hadn't been tied up Beckett went to stand but one of the men said, "Please stay seated Detective Beckett."

"If you know who we are then you can't keep us here, our team will find us," Beckett said, catching Castle's eye as she spoke.

"We know Detective Beckett," one of the men said, "However our boss wants to talk to you."

"And who's your boss?" Castle asked, speaking for the first time since they had been unhooded.

"Me," a voice came from behind them. They both turned and craned their necks to see who had just walked in.

It was an older man, grey haired and dressed in a smart suit. He walked past the two of them and stood between their abductors. "Any problems?" he asked the two of them.

"No sir. Once we had the Detective the writer was no problem."

The man nodded and then turned his attention back to Castle and Beckett.

"Who are you?" Beckett asked again.

"You can call me John Smith," the man answered.

Beckett narrowed her eyes while Castle asked, "Why are we here?"

"Because you are looking into one of my operatives," John Smith answered, "And I am here to inform you that your investigation is now over."

"No," Beckett said, "He had a family and a girlfriend who need answers and justice and I intend to give it to them."

"He has no family Detective and he his girlfriend already knows what happened."

"What about Albert Hammond? Where does he fit into all of this?" Beckett demanded.

"He is being taken care of," was all Smith said in response.

"Who is he?" Castle asked, "Who are you all really?"

"Unfortunately Mr Castle," Smith said with a light smirk, "We are out of time." He gestured to the two men who moved closer to Beckett and Castle, holding the bags open for them. "It was lovely to meet you," Smith said, "But this is the end of your investigation."

Castle and Beckett's world went black once more as the hoods were placed over their heads again and they were made to stand and led back through the door and across the gravel, back into the car.


	21. Chapter 21

The next time the hoods were taken off they were in an alley beside the girlfriend's apartment. The men pulled off the hoods quickly and then got into the car and drove off before the pairs eyes could adjust.

By the time they could see again they were completely alone once again. "What the hell was that," Beckett exclaimed, "Why is it always is that gets kidnapped by some secret government agency."

Castle shrugged, "Maybe we're just lucky."

Beckett glared at him and then happened to glance at her watch. "Ah crap," she sighed, "Gates is going to kill us; we've been gone nearly two hours."

"Well we do have a good excuse," Castle said as they headed down the alley and to the front of the building where Beckett's car was still parked.

Beckett sighed again and the two of them got in and drove away.

When they got back to the precinct and up onto the homicide floor Gates was waiting at Beckett's desk, not looking pleased. "Where have you been Detective, Mr Castle? You said you were going to go and talk to the girlfriend and that was two hours ago. We tried to ping your phones when you didn't answer but got nowhere."

"We were kidnapped," Beckett answered, ignoring the looks that her words got the two of them, "Two guys were waiting for us at the apartment, which by the way has been completely cleaned, and there is no trace of Cynthia, and they took us somewhere. Then we met their boss and he told us to drop the investigation, that we were investigating one of his operatives and we weren't to go any further."

"Right," Gates said, "Let me make some calls, see if I can get to the bottom of this, in the meantime try and find the girlfriend."

Beckett shook her head, "I don't think there is any point sir, going by what John Smith was saying she knows what happened and is a part of it."

"John Smith," Esposito said, "You would have at least thought they could have come up with something better than that."

Castle shook his head, "It's a common name Esposito, I don't think he was looking for style points I'd say he was rather more concerned with keeping us in the dark."

"Do you think you could describe any of the men to a sketch artist?" Gates questioned.

Both Castle and Beckett nodded. "We got a good look at all three of them sir," Beckett answered.

"Good," Gates said, "You do that and we'll get them circulating while I try and find out who kidnapped one of my detectives and thought they could get away with it."

She headed towards her office while Esposito and Ryan moved closer to Beckett and Castle. "Are you guys ok?" Esposito asked.

Beckett and Castle both sat in their respective seats and nodded. "We're alright Espo," Castle answered, "All they did was talk."

Esposito nodded and then said, "I'll get the sketch artist up here so you can get to work on those sketches."

Ryan and Esposito both headed back to their desk and Esposito picked up the phone.

"Are you alright Castle?" Beckett asked, "You've been a bit quiet since we got back."

"I think I know that man," Caste said slowly, "John Smith. I think I've met him before."

"What," Beckett exclaimed, "Are you sure?" When Castle nodded she continued, "Where? At a book signing?"

Castle shook his head, "No. I think I met him when I was a kid, he was younger then, obviously, but I recognise the eyes and the voice."

"Really?" Beckett questioned, "It's been a long time Castle, are you sure?"

Castle nodded, "I remember Beckett. We met in the New York Public Library and he recommended a book for me. Casino Royale, it was that book that got me into writing in the first place so yes I'm sure."

**Ok, so anyone who has seen Hunt and Target will know who the mysterious John Smith really is. I was always planning on having Castle's father as a part of this story so I will probably be using more little bits from Target and Hunt since it's there to use even though this story is set in season 4.**


	22. Chapter 22

**So I had wanted this to be finished by now but it's been harder than I thought it would be to write and so it may be a while longer, especially since I have exams and other stories which I'm finding easier to write.**

**Anyway, hope you like this chapter.**

Beckett watched him for a moment, studying him carefully before she nodded and said, "Well then maybe he has some connection to you."

Castle shrugged, "I really don't know Beckett, it was just that once."

He however didn't sound all that sure of himself and Beckett caught on to that and said, "Are you sure you haven't seen him again since then Castle? You don't sound all that sure that it was just that once."

Castle was silent so Beckett asked again, "Castle, are you sure?"

"No," Castle suddenly snapped, "I have no idea ok."

He got up and walked away, leaving Beckett speechlessly staring after him. She continued to stare at his vacated seat until Esposito came over and sat down and asked, "What was that about Beckett?"

Beckett shook herself before she answered. "I have no idea Espo. We were talking about the guy that wanted to talk to us, John Smith and Castle thought he knew him."

"Where from?" Esposito pressed quickly.

"From when he was a kid. He's pretty sure that he gave him a book in the New York Public Library, he says that's the book that got him into writing."

"But why did he walk off?" Esposito wanted to know, "He's not normally one to walk away for something as small as that."

"Because I pressed him. He didn't sound sure that the library was the only other time he had seen him so I pressed him," Beckett said, trying to get her head around what the hell was going on. "And I have no idea what's wrong."

"Go and talk to him," Esposito said, "Try and sort it out."

Beckett nodded and stood. She headed towards the break room hoping that she would find him there. Esposito watched he go and then went back to sit at his desk, opposite Ryan. He shook his head and said to his partner, "Those two don't half make things complicated."

"Mmmm," Ryan agreed, "But when has life ever been easy for either of them?"

"Fair point," Esposito said, turning to watch Beckett move around, looking for Castle.

Once she saw he wasn't in the break room Beckett stopped for a minute to see if she could work out where Castle could possibly be, she was hoping that he hadn't just gone home. She was pretty sure that he hadn't gone home as she was fairly sure he hadn't gone anywhere near the lift in the time since he had walked away.

She headed towards the observation rooms, knowing that Castle sometimes went there when he needed a minute. He however wasn't there so she turned around and went to check the conference room. When he wasn't there either she paused again for a moment before she headed towards the stairs which led to the gym. It was unlikely he was there but for the moment that was the only place she could think of that wasn't the loft.

It was surprisingly quiet in the gym and Beckett could clearly hear someone pummelling a punch bag. She headed towards the sound, maybe whoever it was would be able to tell her if they'd seen Castle at all.

She stopped dead when she saw that it was Castle who was making all the noise. There were a few other people in the gym but Beckett only had eyes for the man concentrating fully on the punching bag in front of him. She walked over to him and waited for the right moment to place a light hand on his shoulder.

When she did he jumped slightly at the contact before he turned and stared at her, his eyes having an almost dead look about them.

"Castle," Beckett whispered, taking his hands and gently rubbing her thumbs over the abrasions from where he hadn't been wearing gloves, "What's wrong?"

"I… I…" Castle stuttered. He took a breath and muttered, "I know him Kate, I have memories of him all through my life." He looked away before he finished, "I think he might be my father Kate."


	23. Chapter 23

That got Kate's attention. "Why would you think that Castle?" she asked quietly.

Castle shrugged and returned to punching the bag. Beckett waited for a moment and when he didn't stop she grabbed hold of his bicep and spun him away from the bag. When he was facing her she gently took his left hand in hers and undid the Velcro on the glove and pulled it off before she moved onto the other hand and repeated the motion. She moved away to put the gloves back where they belonged before she came back to stand in front of Castle. She then took his hand gently and led him away from the bag, gently rubbing her thumb over his red knuckles as they walked.

She stopped when she reached the bench in the furthest corner of the gym. She sat down and pulled Castle after her gently. Once he too was seated she turned her body to face him and took both of his hands in her own and continued to stroke his sore knuckles. After a moment she said, "You need to speak to me Rick. Why do you think he is your father?"

"When you asked me if I had seen him before," Castle said, "I realised I had. When I thought about it I realised that he has been there my whole life, somewhere in the background. I'm sure I saw him when I graduated and other important events like my first book signing."

Beckett was silent for a moment, thinking back to their earlier encounter with John Smith. Castle didn't look all that much like Martha but there were similarities that showed he was her son and thinking about it she could also see the similarities between Smith and Castle, they had a similar face shape as well as the same nose. "I can see it," she said eventually.

Castle gave her a weak smile, "Kate, I think I might have found my father after all these years."

Beckett returned his smile before she looked down at his hands and said, "Next time you're going to beat up a bag Castle make sure you wrap your hands, the gloves will protect your hands but they will rub your knuckles."

Castle looked down at his hands too and for the first time realised just how red they were. "Or," Beckett continued, "Next time you can just talk to me Rick. We need to get better at communicating remember."

Castle nodded and then gave her a proper smile. Beckett was glad that he was happier now and stood, pulling him to his feet as she went. "Come on," she said, dropping his hands, "Espo called a sketch artist; let's go see if we can find your dad and his two thugs."

They walked back up to the bull pen in silence and when they got there Esposito gave Beckett a questioning look. She gave a nod and smile in return to tell him that it was all alright now. "Where's the sketch artist?" she asked him.

"In the conference room," Esposito said, nodding in that direction.

Beckett gave him and nod and then she and Castle both headed over to the conference room where a man was set up and was currently cleaning his glasses. "Detective," he greeted as they entered the room, "I was called up here so you could describe three men who you saw earlier today."

Beckett and Castle nodded and then took seats side by side on the opposite side of the table to the man. He put his glasses back on and picked up a pencil.

"Who first?" Castle asked.

"One of the thugs," Beckett said, "How about the one who wanted me to stay seated?"

Castle nodded in agreement and they started to describe the guy. Once the sketch was done and they were both happy with it they moved on to the next thug.

This one took a little longer as they couldn't quite agree on the shape of his eyes and his nose but that one was also finished to a standard all three were happy with.

They took a short break to go and get some coffee from the break room before they started on the sketch of John Smith, the man who could possibly be the father of one Richard Castle.

The sketch was both easy and hard to complete, easy because they had gotten a good look at him but hard because there was such a similarity between the man they were describing and the man sitting with them.

When they finished and the sketch artist had left they walked out and stuck the three drawings to the murder board. "Good job," Ryan said as he walked past the board.

Beckett just nodded and said, "But out an alert, I want to know who these men are and if anyone has seen them."

Ryan nodded and quickly took pictures of the pictures and set them up to go out to all the agencies and police precincts in the area.

"We'll find him Castle," Beckett said in a low voice to Castle, "And then we can figure out if he really is your father or not."

Castle just nodded and turned to look at the board, staring hard at the three sketches there.

**So this is going a little slowly but I am not abandoning it, just working on other things, although now I have no school and until I can get a job I am going to have a lot of free time so more will hopefully be written soon. Thanks for putting up with the long breaks in between the chapter updates. **


	24. Chapter 24

**So it's been about seven months since I last posted a chapter for this story but I had a serious case of writer's block, plus I wanted to concentrate on other things. **

**Anyway, after a long wait, here's chapter 24, hope you like it. **

A few hours later they had hit a wall. Beckett threw the pen she had been fiddling with down on the desk and sighed heavily before she leant back in her chair. Across from her Ryan and Esposito were doing much the same thing, all three feed up with the lack of anything that would help them on the case. Rick however was still hunched over the desk, furiously writing on a bit of paper.

"Rick," Beckett spoke softly, placing a light hand on his forearm where it lay on the table, "Stop, take a break. We're not getting anywhere fast and we don't want you burning out on us."

Castle however just shrugged off her hand and continued to write whatever it was he was concentrating so hard on, pushing hard enough to tear the paper in places.

"Rick," Beckett tried again, her voice harder this time, "Stop. Take a moment, please." With the last word her voice took a more pleading note that Castle simply couldn't ignore, no matter how hard he tried.

He looked up and towards Beckett and she was shocked when she saw the look in his eye. She had never seen him look like that in all the years she'd known him. His eyes were dark and heavy and Beckett couldn't work out what emotions she was seeing there, it was too clouded and she was too busy trying not to cringe away from the frankly terrifying sight.

Castle must have realised the effect that he was having on Kate because he stood and walked straight towards the break room. Beckett stayed seated, in utter confusion and shock; she had no idea what to make of the look she had seen in her partner's eyes. Ryan and Esposito waited a moment, both switching their gaze between the still frozen Kate and the break room where Rick was leaning over the sink, also not moving.

Ryan and Esposito waited for a few seconds, to see if either of their stances were going to change. When both remained frozen however the two Detectives stood and walked over to Kate. "Kate," Esposito began softly, "What's up?"

Beckett blinked a few times, she hadn't realised that she'd carried on staring after Rick, before she answered. "I don't know. There was something in his eye, a look I've never seen before," Beckett explained slowly. She then stood and without a word followed after Castle.

Esposito and Ryan watched her go before Ryan turned to Esposito and muttered, "This case is messing with the two of them, or at the very least it's messing with Castle."

Esposito nodded in response. "Well he has always been famously fatherless his whole life, if this man, John Smith, is his father I'm not surprised he's reeling."

Ryan looked towards the break room, where both Kate and Rick were standing in silence. Rick was still leaning over the sink while Kate was leaning against the counter beside him. Ryan then looked at the desk and picked up the bit of paper that Rick had been looking at. "Look at this," Ryan instructed Esposito; holding it so that both he and his partner could read it, "This is what he was writing."

Esposito quickly read through what was on the page before he gave a low whistle. "Bloody hell," he muttered, "He's got a lot of built up anger about his dad doesn't he."

Ryan nodded, "That's what it looks like." He looked at the paper again before saying, "And if he's right about these being times the man he thinks is his father then he has every right to be angry. Hell I'd feel the same way."

Esposito grunted then looked over towards the break room, seeing that Kate and Rick had finally moved, or at least one of them had because the blinds were now shut. "Come on," he instructed Ryan, "Let's go and bang our heads against the brick wall some more."

Ryan looked towards the break room before he nodded. "I think I'll go and slip this through the door though," he mused quietly, "I don't think Kate read it and they might need it."

Esposito rolled his eyes but didn't say anything as Ryan walked over to the break room, knocked, opened the door a little, and placed the piece of paper just inside on the counter before he shut the door again and headed back over to Esposito.

"So," he grouched as he sat down, "You were saying something about a brick wall?"

**I have no idea when I'll be posting the next chapter, it could be a few days or it could be another few months. Thanks for putting up with me :D**


	25. Chapter 25

When Beckett first entered the break room she went to lean beside Castle. What they had been unable to see from outside was that Castle was gripping the edge of the sink hard enough to make his knuckles go white, and that he was shaking all over.

Beckett stood for a moment, her eyes never leaving his hunched figure. She couldn't see his face but she soon realised that there were tears on his face. When she saw that she quickly shut the door and closed all the blinds, Castle didn't need other people to see him in his current state.

Once that was done Beckett went back to lean against the counter beside him. She reached across and gently placed a hand on his shoulder before she slid it down his arm to rest on his hand. She then stood still, waiting for Rick to make a move, any move at all. The silence dragged on but Castle stopped shaking.

Behind her Beckett was aware of the door opening and she looked to see Ryan's hand come in and place a piece of paper on the side before it withdrew and the door shut again. Beckett could see from here that it was the piece of paper that Castle had been writing on. She couldn't see the words themselves but she knew she was right because of the holes in the paper and how thick the lines of the letters were because of how hard Rick had been pushing.

Beckett turned her attention back to Rick, telling herself that she'd pick the bit of paper up when Castle looked at her, right now she didn't even want to take her hand away from his. She knew that she wasn't doing much but she also knew that a simple hand on his was about all she could do right now, so she was going to keep doing it.

Beckett stood for what felt like an age but eventually Castle pushed himself up right and looked towards her. Her hand moved from his hand and he turned to lean his back against the sink. Once he had settled Kate moved to stand in front of him. He had his head down, looking down at the floor, so Kate bent her knees a little, so that she could look up and see his face as she got closer.

"Rick," she whispered, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Castle was quiet for a moment and Kate took the chance to take a few steps back and picked up the bit of paper that had put Castle in this mood in the first place. As she walked back to stand in front of Castle once more she gave it a quick glance and then she understood exactly why that look had been in Castle's eyes.

"This is the list I asked you for isn't it?" she asked, wanting to fill the silence with something, hoping to calm Castle down enough to get him to talk.

While she didn't get him to talk he did nod which Beckett was happy to take right now. She was happy with any form of communication right now.

"I can see why you're angry," she tried again, keeping her voice soft as she read through the page more carefully, "If you're right he's been to a lot of your big moments in life."

"Graduation, first book signing," Castle began to rattle off, "And I'm sure I saw him in the audience the first time I did a TV interview. I can't be sure but I recognise the face, I'm sure I do. And then there are all the others too." He stared straight at Beckett and she realised that one of the emotions that were in his eye was hurt. Her suspicious were conformed as Castle continued to say, "I am that much of a disappointment that he didn't want to tell me who he really was?" His voice had lost the harsh quality that it had adopted previously and now he sounded like a lost kid with no idea what he had done wrong.

"Oh Rick," Beckett breathed, moving closer and wrapping her arms around his still bowed neck, her arms going up and round while Castle's head came to rest on her shoulder. "You're not a disappointment to anyone. Martha is proud to be your mother, Alexis couldn't ask for a better Dad and I have never had a partner how I trust as much as I trust you.

Castle's arms remained at his sides for a few moments before he brought them up and returned Beckett's hug, his arms pulling her close to his body. "Then why did he never tell me who he was?" Castle asked, the tone of his voice almost begging in nature.

It was then that Beckett realised just how much the fact that Castle didn't know who his father was bothered him. He had always played it off but now it was clear to see that that had all been an act and it had actually scared him, and scared him deeply.

"I don't know," Beckett responded softly, "But I do know that he's missed out on a lot. He never got the chance to be a dad to you, but he also never got the chance to watch as you grew up and became the caring and considerate man you are today."

How long they stayed wrapped in each other's arms neither knew but Kate was content just to stand there and give Castle a shoulder to lean on, just like he had done countless times for her over the years since he'd first started shadowing her.


	26. Chapter 26

**Ok, so I posted a chapter earlier but it turns out that was the wrong one. I hadn't remembered that I'd written a chapter while I'd been unable to post anything due to the site not working. This is the real chapter 26, the one I posted earlier is meant to be 27. Sorry.**

**Hope you like it. **

Eventually they pulled apart and Castle wiped his eyes, he'd started to cry as soon as Beckett had wrapped her arms around him. He also felt a lot better for it now. "Kate," he whispered, "I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can deal with him being my father, but I also don't know how I'll feel if he isn't my father."

"Rick," Beckett soothed, "It doesn't matter if he is your father or if he isn't. What matters is that you became the man you are today without any help from him. Ok, so if John Smith is your father and he did go to all those things I know you're going to be angry and upset that he never told you, but look at what you've become without him. He had nothing to do with who you are today and that's his lose Rick. I have never meant anyone like you before and that is nothing to do with who your father is Rick, you are who you are today despite the fact that you never had a real father figure in your life. And look at Alexis, there is no child on this earth who could have asked for a better dad and you did all of that without the help of her mother and without any self-experience to draw on."

Castle was silent for a moment before he looked at Beckett, staring straight into her eyes. Beckett held the intense gaze as he responded, "How is it you always know exactly what to say Kate to make everything seem ok again?"

Beckett smiled at him, kissed his lips lightly, before answering, "Because I leant from the best Castle, I learnt from you."

Castle pulled Beckett into another tight hug and Beckett squeezed for all she was worth, making sure, without words, that Castle knew just how much he meant to her, Alexis, Martha and everyone who cared about him.

When they pulled apart Castle took a deep steadying breath before he turned back to the sink and quickly filled a mug with water. Once he had drunk that down he quickly rinsed out the cup and put it on the draining board. Beckett watched him carefully, not saying a word. She knew that he was straightening out everything in his head and that her talking to him wasn't going to help with that. When he turned back to face her, his face was clearer, more like it usually was, it wasn't however completely back to normal but it was getting close.

"You ok?" Beckett asked him, now happy that he was all cleared up and had his head on straight.

"No," Castle answered honestly, "But I'm better than earlier."

Beckett nodded in understanding. "Good," she opened the blinds and opened them before heading to the door saying, "You ready to find out who this man really is?"

Castle nodded. Beckett waited for him to get closer, so that he was standing beside her, before she pulled open the door and the two of them walked out.

They made their way over to where Ryan and Esposito were sitting, working on something, and working on it hard. They were both concentrating so much that they didn't even notice when Beckett and Castle came to stand behind them. The two stood and watched what the two detectives were doing. They were both concentrating on Ryan's computer, scrolling through what looked old pictures.

They seemed to find something because they both pointed to the same thing before they fist bumped and leant back in their chairs. "Are we that cute when we find something?" Castle asked in a stage whisper.

Ryan and Esposito spun around quickly at his words while Beckett chuckled to herself, looked like Castle was back on form.

"What is that?" Beckett asked, nodding her head at the screen.

"Pictures," Esposito answered quickly. He looked at Castle as he continued to say, "We saw your list then decided that since we didn't know where else to go we decided to see if there were any picture of the crowd for each of those events. There weren't many but we've managed to find some, and you were right, John Smith was in the audience. We've managed to get a facial match in all of them from the sketch you did. Even if he's not your father he's been present at a lot of your important events over the years."

Beckett and Castle shared a look and Beckett could see that his emotions were clear on his face once again but his look was nothing like it had been earlier. Now it was more resigned than angry, Castle feeling more than ever that this man was his father, the photos giving him all the extra proof he needed.

"Some of those things must have had a guest list," Beckett mused, looking between the boys and Castle, who was staring right at the group of pictures on the screen.

Castle nodded in agreement, "I think a lot of them did yes, the TV should have done because people had to buy tickets to be in the audience. I'm sure a lot of the others had guest lists too. If we're lucky then he'll have used the same name each time or they'll have pictures."

Esposito and Ryan both nodded and got to work finding the numbers that they were going to need to ring to get the guest lists. They all knew it was a long shot, they may well not even have the guest lists on file anymore, but a lead was a lead and it was all they had right now.


	27. Chapter 27

**I posted this under the wrong chapter. I'd forgotten that I'd already done a chapter but hadn't posted it. As such you may well have already read this chapter however, the one before you might not have. So please, go back and read that one.**

**Thanks and sorry for being an idiot :D**

Eventually they got through all the numbers and got a guest list from nearly all of them. Some didn't have any; they had never had one in the first place, while others had been deleted over the years. There were however enough to cross reference as well as three that came with a photos next to the names. The photos came in very handy. The pictures meant that they had names to go with the face that was John Smith. In total they ended up with two names, Frank Simmons and Hank Carter, to go with the pictures, which Ryan and Esposito used to go though the other lists, hoping that since he'd used Frank Simmons twice that he might have used it, or Carter, again.

Going through they found that of the lists they had, 90% had the names Frank Simmons and Hank Carter as well as a few that had John Smith. While they knew that it could quite easily be someone else with the same name, but they were working on the theory that it was him.

"Well," Beckett stated when they stopped for a break, "By the looks of it, if he is the man behind all the names, then he has been to a lot of your big events Castle."

Castle nodded while Esposito put in, "It's looking more and more like this man is your father."

Castle nodded again. "Another way to check might be to get my mother to have a look at the picture, see if he looks familiar," he mused aloud, "Just to see."

The three detectives all nodded. "We can do that tonight," Beckett decided, "But right now let's see if we can get any further with how to find Smith."

They all nodded and got to work. Some of the lists they'd been given had a few personal details on, and while they suspected that the numbers had either been fake or had since been disconnected, it did give them a chance to learn more about Smith's movements over the years, and hopefully help them work out what his more recent movements had been.

They all worked on it for hours, managing to create a rough timeline of Smith's movements over the last thirty or so years. At one point Gates had come out to see how it was going and after Beckett had explained to her that this man was the only lead they had on the death of Cameron Mitchell and the subsequent disappearance of his girlfriend Cynthia she had left them to it, telling them that if they needed her to make any calls to find out who the man actually worked for and what he had been doing in New York then her door was open. She did however stress that unless they had some idea of what was going on she was just going to get stone walled, so when they did come to her they had better have something that she could use to call their bluff.

They worked through everything they had, from the crime scene to Beckett and Castle's visit to the warehouse to Cynthia's emptied apartment, to see where everything linked and joined together, where all the paths connected.

They dug deeper into Cynthia and Cameron's pasts and soon found where they had first turned up. It took them a while, the covers were very deep and very well constructed, but because they were looking and they knew that there was something there Esposito and Ryan managed to find it. The two managed to find that while there were records that went back years, Cynthia and Cameron had actually only been around for a little over a year, that was when the credit card charges became real and the phone bills looked more like normal phone records would, as opposed to the all too neat ones that had been previously.

While they were doing that Castle and Beckett had furthered what they'd found on Smith, looking closely at the time line and trying to fill in the blanks that had arisen between Castle's events. Sometimes they had no luck and the gaps would stay as they were but others they would be able to use phone records from the last alias used to fill in a few blanks.

By the time the end of the day rolled round the four of them were more than ready to call it a night. Trawling through the records had been hard on all of them because they hadn't just been reading; they'd had to look closely at everything, looking for holes and discrepancies in the files, which took a lot more concentration than just plain old reading through.

"Let's call it a night," Beckett decided at five o'clock, putting the files into a neat pile on her desk, "We're not going to find much more tonight, we're all too tired. If we start a fresh tomorrow, maybe swap what we're looking at; then we'll find out more."

Ryan and Esposito both nodded and began to sort out their desks too. "This is going to sound really paranoid," Castle started, "But is there anywhere we can put the files where only we can get to them? They've already tried kidnapping so I wouldn't put breaking and entering a police station to get files past them."

Ryan, Esposito and Beckett all shared a look before Beckett nodded. "You're not paranoid Castle," she reassured him, "You're actually probably right. We can go and put them somewhere no one would look."

Castle nodded, he was happy with that. As Beckett stacked her files with Ryan and Esposito's Castle quickly turned and took a few pictures of the murder board, just in case that went missing, there wasn't really anywhere they could hide that easily. Beckett gave him a smile in thanks before she walked through the precinct, carrying the files, and disappeared from view.

Ryan and Esposito turned to get ready to leave, closing down their computers and getting all their stuff, while Castle did the same to Beckett's desk, so when she came back they would be almost ready to go.

Beckett wasn't gone for too long, and when she came back she was file less. Castle quickly helped her into her coat before the four of them left. No one asked where Beckett had put the files, the fewer people who knew that better, plus for all they knew someone could be watching them and they could inadvertently give away the location.

They all went their separate ways outside the precinct, Castle and Beckett heading for the loft to ask Martha if she recognised the man in the picture while Ryan and Esposito headed home, ready to wind down for the evening.

**So I have been trying to write some more for my story Hope but so far all I've managed to do is get writer's block. I want to finish this story and hopefully at least make a dent in Hope before I start on any new projects, that way I won't feel so bad about leaving them all for so long.**

**Thanks for reading.**


	28. Chapter 28

**I'm on a little bit of a roll at the moment so hopefully, fingers crossed, I'll get this story completed soon, although I may well have just jinxed it.**

**Right now I'm meant to be in the workshop, working on an assessment that will go towards my final mark for the unit the whole course in general, but one of the instructors had some sort of medical problem so we've been told to come to the library and do some 'private study' but I seriously can't be bothered with that so I'm going to do a bunch of writing, hopefully knock out a few chapters. **

**I hope you like this chapter and sorry for the mix up with 26 and 27. **

They got take out on their way back to the loft, neither wanting to cook and neither wanting to be alone that night. Castle was obviously in emotional turmoil and Beckett didn't want to leave him on his own, not after how many times he'd stood by her.

When they arrived back at the loft, Castle letting them in and then proceeding to go and lie on the sofa while Beckett sorted out plates and drinks, Castle called out for Martha, wondering if she was there so they could ask her if she recognised Smith.

Martha however didn't answer so Castle knew that she wasn't back yet, although he knew she'd be back at some point. He sat up as Beckett came out of the kitchen, carrying the food and a glass of wine for each of them.

They ate in silence, both too tired to make small talk. Castle however did turn the TV on at one point to break the silence, and the two half watched a movie that Castle had found that had only just started. When they had finished eating Castle stood and took the plates back into the kitchen and stacked them on the side to deal with later, he really couldn't be bothered right now, and headed back to the sofa where Kate was still sitting, drinking her second glass of wine.

Castle smiled at her when he saw that she had refilled his glass too. He sat back down beside her and she moved up to sit closer to him, her legs curled up on the sofa and her head leaning against his shoulder.

"We'll find him," she stated after a few moments, "You know that right?"

Castle gave a shallow shrug, not wanting to dislodge her from her perch. "He's a spy Beckett, if he doesn't want us to find him we won't."

Beckett moved and turned to look at Castle, using her hand to gently turn his head so that their eyes met. "We are going to find him Castle," she stated again, her tone leaving no room for argument, "He's left a trail and we are going to follow it and we are going to find him. I promise you that."

The two continued to stare at each other for a few moments longer before Castle nodded in agreement. Beckett smiled before saying, "I like this." She gestured to the way that the two of them were sitting.

Castle wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he answered, "I never really had you pegged as woman who liked to snuggle in front of the TV."

Beckett smiled. "Well, you've got a lot to learn about me Castle. I have layers remember."

"Oh, I remember," Castle responded before he leant down and kissed her.

It was still a novelty for the two of them to be able to do this so the kiss lasted a long while. When they eventually pulled apart Castle pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and threw it over the two of them before he gently moved down the sofa, ending up more horizontal than vertical. Once he had finished moving Beckett made herself more comfortable, moving so that she was lying more in front and on top than she had been before. Castle wrapped an arm around her waist and the two stayed like that to watch the movie.

They woke up a little while later, another movie playing, when the front door went. They both sat up and saw that Martha had just come home. The older woman smiled at the two of them. "Don't let me disturb you," she muttered as she breezed through the room.

"Actually Martha," Beckett called after her, "We need to ask you something."

Martha turned back towards them, a small frown on her face. Beckett and Castle sat up while Martha took a seat on the arm chair. "What can I do for you?" Martha inquired.

"Can you take a look at this picture?" Beckett requested as Castle pulled out his phone and found the picture he'd taken of the sketch, "And tell us if you recognise the man."

Martha's frown deepened. "Is this to do with a case?" she asked.

"I'll tell you everything I can after you've taken a look at the photo Martha," Beckett bargained, "Make sure that you have an unbiased view."

Martha nodded her understanding then took the phone her son was offering her. Beckett knew as soon as Martha looked at the photo that she recognised the man. Her face dropped ever so slightly and her posture became stiffer.

"I do recognise him yes, his name, or at least the one he gave me, is Jackson Hunt," Martha explained as she gave the phone back to Castle, "He's older but I'd recognise him anywhere."

Beckett nodded before she took a breath and asked, "How did you know him Martha?"

"He was a one night stand," Martha started slowly, "And that one night was the night that Richard was conceived."


	29. Chapter 29

Martha gave Castle an apologetic look as she finished speaking, but when Castle said nothing, or made any sign of saying anything at all, she looked back to Beckett. "What's this about Kate?" she wanted to know.

"He's involved in our case Martha," Beckett replied quickly, "And he's the only lead we have. Our victim's girlfriend has disappeared and this man, Smith, Hint, whatever his name is, kidnapped Castle and me and told us to stop looking into it, that there was no one who needed to know what had happened and that they would deal with it."

Martha looked away from the two of them, deep in thought. Beckett took the chance to look at Castle, who still hadn't said a word since Martha had confirmed their suspicions. "You ok Castle?" she whispered, touching her hand to his shoulder.

Castle started a little at the contact but then looked at her and nodded. "I guess this means we were right," he murmured, almost too quiet for Beckett to hear, "He really is my father and he didn't want anything to do with me."

Beckett glanced at Martha quickly and when she saw that she was still off in her own little world turned back to Castle. "We've already gone over this Castle," she whispered, "He missed out on so much. But he did have something to do with you, we've already found out that at every big event in your life, you're graduation, you're first TV interview, he was there. He may not have told you he was there but he was. Maybe he just wanted to keep you safe and thought never telling you who he was was the best way to do that."

Castle didn't say anything more and Beckett studied his face, making sure that what she had said had sunk in and stuck. When she was happy that it had she turned back to Martha. The older woman was still staring off into space but Kate felt that she'd given her enough time to sort out her thoughts.

"Are you sure it's him Martha?" she asked, just wanting to be certain that it was Hunt/Smith.

Martha nodded. "He's older like I said but his face has hardly changed since I've known him. If you look past the wrinkles and where it's sagged in places he's still the same man. Plus, you can see where Richard gets some of his features."

Beckett nodded. "That's why we were thinking that he was Castle's father. When we did the sketch we realised that at some points we were just describing Castle."

Martha's face was pensive as she asked, "What's going on Kate?"

Beckett sighed. "We don't know. All we know is that our victim was shot to death and then his girlfriend's apartment was emptied and she has disappeared. Going through their records with a fine tooth comb we've worked out that they were all fake, that it was a cover story. We're guessing. But the theory at the moment is that Smith is their handler on whatever it is they're doing and that when Mitchell died he pulled Cynthia out, or moved to follow other leads or whatever. Then he kidnapped Castle and me to make sure that the case got buried, again we're guessing, but we think it's so that they can take care of it themselves without having to worry about police interference."

"Ok," Martha muttered, "Well I hope I helped."

"Yes you did Martha," Beckett was quick to reassure, "Now we know that he is who we thought he was and we can add that to what we already have on him. Hopefully we'll be able to find him and sort everything out."

Martha gave Beckett a small, sad, smile before she stood. "I'll be upstairs if anyone want's me," she decided.

Beckett and Castle watched as the actress headed up the stairs, her usual bounce in her step lessened but not totally gone. Beckett then turned to Castle. "Come on Castle," she instructed, "Let's go to bed before we fall asleep on the sofa again."

Castle agreed wordlessly, letting her pull him up off the sofa and then towards the bedroom. One after the other they went into the bathroom and changed into something they could sleep in. Beckett was glad that she'd had the foresight to grab her bag from the car, the one that contained her spare change of clothes, that she could change into in the morning because it meant that they didn't need to go back to hers before they went to the precinct to carry on with trying to work out what the hell was happening with this case.

It should have shocked her, and before now it probably would have scared her, how quickly she had gotten used to sleeping in the same bed as Richard Castle. It had only been the day before that they'd finally decided to take the leap but it felt so natural and right that Beckett had to wonder why they hadn't done this before.

As she climbed into bed beside Castle, both knowing that nothing was going to happen tonight aside from wrapping each other in an embrace, she couldn't help but smile. Yes this case was a bitch and was more complicated than it deserved, but she and Castle had finally acted on the thing between them and she couldn't be happier.


	30. Chapter 30

**Ok, so I have a confession to make, I got a bit preoccupied with the case and have forgotten about the fact that Castle and Beckett are together. Over the next few chapters I'll have a bit more Caskett. **

The next morning found them all arriving at the precinct at the same time. It was a complete coincidence, they all just happened to arrive at the front door at the same time. It was just as well really since only Beckett knew where the files were.

They all got into the lift and headed up to the homicide floor. After Beckett had dropped all her stuff at her desk she went and collected the files from where she had hid them the night before, leaving the guys to sort themselves out.

"Doesn't look like anything's been touched," Castle decided, checking the picture on his phone against the murder board.

Ryan and Esposito shared a look; they thought that Castle was just being a little too paranoid about the whole thing, but didn't say anything, they could see where he was coming from. They took a moment to check their desks, to see if it looked like anything had been moved, even a little bit. "I don't think anything's been moved on my desk," Ryan stated eventually, "But I'm sure I left the pens on the other side of the computer, plus I think the angle of the screen is wrong."

Castle frowned and quickly looked at Beckett's desk; to see if that looked any different, while Esposito looked more closely at his own. "Stuff's been moved on Beckett's desk too," he decided eventually.

They both looked to Esposito to see if he thought anyone had messed with his desk. It took him a few moments before he nodded, "Mine too."

They all looked at each other and then turned to see if they could see Beckett coming back, if they hadn't have been able to see her walking towards them they all fully intended to go and look for her.

She saw them looking up her and sped up a little, the files from the day before held tight in her arms. As she came to a halt between the desks Castle hissed to her, "Someone's messed with the desks, things have been moved around."

Beckett frowned before she moved to her own desk and checked to see if Castle was right. The three guys stood in silence as Beckett racked her eyes across her desk. "Crap," she muttered when she realised that Castle was right.

"Did the files look like someone had tampered with them?" Castle asked urgently as Ryan and Esposito gathered around them.

"No," Beckett answered quickly and surely, "I put them someone no one would have thought to look for them, plus I left things in place that would move if anyone so much as breathed on them."

Castle nodded, happy with her answer. "Well the murder board hasn't been touched," he stated, "However it was must have decided that because they couldn't find the file then erasing it was pointless."

Beckett, Ryan and Esposito all nodded in agreement with his statement, it did make sense. "Are you we sure that it wasn't just the cleaners?" Ryan asked, "It could have quiet easily been them moving things around while they were cleaning and putting them back in the wrong place."

Beckett shook her head. "They don't clean the desks, they only clean around them. They used to but some of the stuff they moved was important to an open investigation and it wasted precious time while the Detectives looked for whatever it was, so now they don't touch the desks at all, it makes it all a lot easier on everyone. Detectives don't have to worry about misplaced files or evidence and the cleaners don't need to worry about impeding a police investigation."

"Oh," Ryan muttered, "I'd never realised that before. I guess because we all tend to just clean our own desks when it gets too messy."

"Yeah," Beckett replied. "Now," she carried on, "Shall we swap files and see what we can find?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and got down to work. Beckett dished out the files, putting what they had on Hunt on Esposito and Ryan's desks while keeping Cynthia and Cameron's files for herself and Castle to look through.

To begin they went through what the other partners had found the day before. Then they went through the files themselves to see if they could find anything that had been missed, or that had been overlooked as they couldn't make it fit with any story or theory.

They worked until lunch time, everyone taking a break at some point to go and make coffee for everyone else, before they got back to work too. By the time that lunchtime rolled around they had gone through all the files and had made a note of anything that they'd found so they could go over it as a four, once they'd had a break and eaten something.

Beckett leant back in her chair while Castle moved around her, gathering up all the files in one place. He then moved over to the guys desk and did the same thing while the guys stretched out their arms and backs.

"Castle," Beckett asked, "What are you doing?"

"We're all going out for lunch," Castle stated, "So I'm putting the files in a safe place where they won't be touched while we're out."

Beckett frowned while Esposito asked, "Since when are we going out Castle?"

"Since we all need a break and a little space from this case," Castle responded, "And what better way to do that then go out somewhere to get some lunch?"

Esposito and Ryan looked to Beckett and she nodded. She understood what they were wordlessly telling her. That they were fine to keep working, that they didn't need any space. One look at Castle however told Beckett all she needed to know, he did need some space from the case, even if it was only the thirty or so minutes they took for lunch.

Esposito and Ryan followed her gaze as she began to nod in agreement with Castle's words and then they too realised that Castle obviously didn't want to be alone at the moment which was why he'd invited them all to lunch rather than just going to go and get take out.

"Just let me go and deal with these," Castle motioned with the files, "Then we can go."

The three detectives nodded and then watched as Castle made his way over to Gates' office, where the woman herself was sitting doing paperwork.

"Is he ok?" Ryan asked Beckett softly once Castle was safely in the office.

Beckett shrugged. "It's his father, who he's never met, he's just a little distracted and confused I think."

"Why not just send him home," Esposito suggested, "Get him well clear of the case."

Beckett raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think that would work? He'd be back in no time, wanting to help and get to the bottom of everything that's happened."

"Good point," Esposito agreed.

Beckett glanced towards the office before saying, "We'll go for lunch and then come back with clearer heads so we can go over everything that we've found, today and yesterday, and see if and how it all fits together."

The two guys nodded and then three of them started to get ready to go, grabbing their coats and turning off their computer screens.


	31. Chapter 31

Castle knocked on the door to Gates' office and when the woman herself looked up and gestured for him to enter he walked in and went to stand in front of her desk, the files held tight in his arms.

"How can I help you Mr Castle?" Gates asked.

"Would it be ok if I left the case files in here with you sir?" Castle requested, "It's just that in here I know they won't go missing."

Gates looked him up and down, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Do you think there is a risk of them going missing Mr Castle?" she inquired eventually.

Castle looked out of the window for a second before he answered. "Yes, I do think there is a risk of them going missing."

Gates nodded in understanding. "Why would that be Mr Castle?"

"Last night," Castle began, "We hid the files because I was feeling paranoid, they'd already kidnapped me and Beckett so I wouldn't put it past them to steal from the police either. It was just as well we did because when we came in this morning someone had been through the desks, obviously looking for something."

Gates frowned. "I will not have people coming into my precinct trying to steal our case files," she stated, "But why do you want to keep them in here for now? Surely they'll be safe while you go for lunch; I don't think anyone would be so bold as to come in while we're all working."

Castle shrugged. "No one would notice if someone in a uniform went up to the desks and picked up from files. It happens all the time so why would anyone question it?"

"Do you really think they'd be that bold?"

It took Castle less than a second to nod his head. "I do think they'd do that yes."

Gates seemed to think everything over for a few seconds before she held out her hand. "You can leave the files here Mr Castle, I'll make sure that no one except for yourself or Detectives Beckett, Ryan or Esposito take them from me."

"Thank you sir," Castle responded, handing over the files and watching as Gates stacked them on her desk. "Do you want anything while we go to lunch sir?" he then asked, feeling that he owed her something for agreeing to deal with his paranoid self.

"No thank you Mr Castle," she answered, "But make sure you and the Detectives all come back with clear heads, ready to find the people who think they can come and help themselves to our files."

"Yes sir," Castle accepted before he turned and left the room. He headed over to where Ryan, Esposito and Beckett were all stood; ready to go, waiting for him.

Beckett gave him a smile as he grabbed his coat and then the four of them headed towards the lift. Once in the lift Beckett and Castle moved to the back while Ryan and Esposito stood at the front. In the relative privacy that the lift afforded them Beckett took hold of Castle's hand and gave it a squeeze before she pulled on it slightly, causing Castle to lean towards her, and kiss him on the cheek.

"We'll get to the bottom of this Castle," she whispered the promise in his ear as she pulled away from his cheek, "And you can ask Hunt all the questions I know you have. We'll find him and we'll bring him in."

"I know we will Kate," Castle replied, "But what if we don't? What if we never find out what happened to Cameron and Cynthia? What if we never find Hunt?"

Beckett brought her hand up to cup his cheek and looked straight into his eyes. "We will find him Castle, we will find Hunt and we can ask him why he never told you that he was your father and why he never made an effort to be part of your life. And we can ask him what the hell is going on with Cameron and Cynthia and why one of them died and the other disappeared."

Castle nodded as the lift doors opened and Beckett dropped her hand back to her side.

Ryan and Esposito left first, leading the way out of the lift and then out of the precinct.


	32. Chapter 32

They ended up going to Remy's. It wasn't far from the precinct so they weren't going to be gone too long, and they all loved the food that was on offer there.

They ordered and then sat in the booth waiting for their food to arrive. Esposito and Ryan talked animatedly about something but neither Castle nor Beckett were paying much attention to what the two of them were saying.

Instead Castle and Beckett were sitting close in the booth, Beckett nearly in Castle's lap, with their arms wrapped around each other. Castle had an arm around her waist while Beckett had her arm resting across his shoulders, and both were leaning into each other. Neither were speaking, just enjoying being close to each other, and taking comfort in the feeling of the others body against theirs. They were also staring deep into each other's eyes, reading each other in ways that no one else could do.

When their food arrived they all ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, trying to work out what the hell was going on with this case. Castle was trying to work out why his father had never told him who he was and what he had to do with the disappearance of Cynthia. Beckett was trying to work out if there was any way she could make this easier on Castle; he'd helped her so much in the past, even before they'd actually met with his books, and she wanted to return that favour in any way she could. Ryan and Esposito were thinking along the same lines, wondering why Castle was so upset about this case. As far as they knew Castle had never cared about whom his father was, he'd always been so happy go lucky about it, just laughing it off when people mentioned it. However, as they ate they both came to the same conclusion, Castle was just as good as Beckett at hiding things, they knew that, so they guessed that he had just been hiding the fact that he did actually care and want to know who his father was and why he had never made the effort to get to know him. It also probably didn't help that he was involved in a rather complicated murder case.

Beckett and Castle remained close as they ate; both only using one hand so they could still keep a hold of each other. At one point Beckett even decided to do what Castle usually did and took some food from Castle plate, and ate it with a smile on her face. Castle pouted at her but his mood seemed to lighten a little at the gesture, lightening the mood of the whole table.

When they finished Castle insisted on paying for all of them, not taking no for an answer when all three of the Detectives tried to pay for themselves. Once the bill had been settled the three all headed back to the precinct.

As they got back into the lift, all going to the same positions as they had taken on the way down, Beckett spoke. "When we get back up we go over everything we have so far and everything we've found today. Then we try and find out what the hell is going on, where Cynthia is and where Hunt fits into all of this."

The three men all nodded in agreement and they all waited patiently for the lift to arrive up at homicide. When they got there they found Gates sitting at Beckett's desk waiting for them. As they got closer she stood. "Detectives, Mr Castle," she greeted.

"Sir," all four responded together.

Gates then concentrated all her attention on Castle. "It was just as well you put the files in my office Mr Castle."

"Why is that sir?" Beckett asked.

"Because Detective," Gates responded, looking to Beckett as she spoke, "We had an uninvited visitor while you were having lunch. A man came in and started to go through your desks." The four all looked at each other in shock. "He was dressed as a uniform, just like you suggested they would Mr Castle, and spent a little too long at your desks. I wouldn't have even noticed if Mr Castle hadn't suggested the possibility earlier." She looked around the four of them. "When I went to talk to him he tried to justify what he was doing but a quick check showed that he wasn't who he said he was, his badge number is a real one but it matches with that of a new female graduate from the academy, which he is certainly not."

"Where is he Captain?" Castle requested.

"He's in interrogation Mr Castle. He's waiting for someone to go and interview him."

"Beckett?" Castle asked.

"Oh yeah," Beckett answered, "Time we get some answers."

"I'll leave you to it Detectives," Gates stated, handing the files to Ryan and Esposito.

"Thank you Captain," Beckett called after her as Gates headed back to her office.

Beckett then turned to Castle. "Right, first we go through the files, see what we all found, and then we go and interview this man. Hopefully that way we'll have something to throw him off his game."

Ryan and Esposito both nodded immediately, knowing that that was the best way to go about this. Castle however looked towards interrogation for a few seconds before he looked back to Beckett and nodded, he knew that Beckett was right but that didn't stop him wanting to go in and talk to their wanna-be thief right now.

**So they're finally getting somewhere with the case. **


	33. Chapter 33

**Woooo, with the last chapter this story has reached 100 reviews so I want to thank everyone who's helped me get to that number. Hope you like the new chapter. **

They worked through what they'd found quickly, adding most of it to one of the boards depending on who it had to do with. The entire time they worked Castle couldn't help but glance over to the interrogation room, where their thief was still waiting. To begin with Beckett ignored it, she knew that he just wanted to go in there and get some answers, but eventually she had to speak.

"Castle," she muttered, turning to face him and resting a hand on his leg to get his attention focused on her, "He's not going anywhere ok, and there's no point in us going in there until we have as much information as we can get, so we can hold it over him and try and catch him in a lie." When Castle remained silent and his gaze began to shift back towards the interrogation room Beckett squeezed his knee, hard enough that he couldn't ignore it. He turned back to look at her and Beckett held his gaze.

After a few minutes Castle sighed and nodded. "I know Beckett; it's just that he has the answers."

"Yes, he does," Beckett agreed, "But if we go in there too soon he's just going to keep them."

Castle knew that she was right, he'd been around the precinct long enough to know that by now, so he turned his attention back to the boards and the information that was there, concentrating on piecing it all together so they could have as much of the story as possible before they went into interrogation.

Beckett watched him for another minute and when she was happy that he wasn't getting distracted by the man in interrogation she turned her attention to the murder boards as well.

Esposito and Ryan noticed the exchange but didn't comment as they too studied the boards.

Ten minutes later Castle suddenly began smiling widely. It took Beckett a moment to notice, because she was still studying the board intently. When she did see it it was out of the corner of her eye and it took a few seconds to register. When it did though she turned to away from the board to look straight at Castle.

"What you got Castle?" she questioned, her voice drawing Ryan and Esposito's attention as well.

"The time line," Castle explained, nodding towards the board, "Just look at the time line."

The three of them all looked at the board but couldn't see what had gotten Castle so excited. They all turned back to him, looking at him expectantly. His smile only grew before Beckett scowled and he began to speak. "If you look at the time lines for everything you can see where they all slot together. Cameron and Cynthia's back stories get actual proper, real people, proof and one of Hunt's old aliases gets used again, his credit cards suddenly have records again, as does his phone. There are phone calls every week, from both Cynthia and Cameron's phones, to that number. Cameron dies and the calls between Hunt and Cynthia increase before both disappear off the map, totally into the ether. Cynthia can't be found anywhere, her apartment has been totalled cleaned, her phones been disabled and her bank accounts have been shut. Hunt's phone has also stopped making any calls or texts, at the same time as Cynthia's."

Beckett looked more closely at the time lines and saw that Castle was right. She, and she guessed Ryan and Esposito, had tried to see the bigger picture but had tried too hard, trying to see a pattern, probably a complicated one. Castle however had managed to keep the bigger picture totally in mind and had seen what they had all missed.

"Right," Beckett stated, standing up and grabbing the folders from the desk, "Let's go and get him, I think we have enough to back him into a corner. It may be a little circumstantial but we have a link and we have the facts. All we have to do is get him into a position where he thinks we have more than we actually do and he incriminates himself."

Castle promptly stood too and beamed at Beckett, he was looking forward to getting some answers.

"Wait two minutes ok Castle," Beckett instructed. Castle frowned but waited as Beckett walked over to Gates office and knocked on the door. She quickly entered when Gates called for her from inside. "Captain," Beckett greeted quickly, "We're about to go and speak to our wanna be cop. Just thought I'd let you know."

"Thank you Detective," Gates responded, putting her pen down on the desk, "Do you think you have enough to get to him?"

Beckett nodded. "Castle managed to piece together the time lines so we can use that and the other evidence we have, as well as him being here under an obviously false name and badge number, to back him up against a wall and get out of him what the hell has been going on."

"Good," Gates stated, "Now if you don't mind Detective I rather think I'd like to watch this interrogation, I don't like it when people think they can get one over on me."

Beckett nodded her understanding as she smiled and held the door open for Gates to go through. The two then walked towards the interrogation room, Castle, Ryan and Esposito all joining them as they walked. At the door Beckett and Castle paused while Gates, Esposito and Ryan carried on into the observation room.

Castle turned to look at Beckett giving her a questioning look, wondering why she had stopped them from going in. His question was answered a few seconds later when Beckett began to speak. "When we're in there Rick I need you to keep everything in check ok. No sudden outbursts of anger or joy ok, we need him to think that this is just any other interrogation ok; he can't know that this is personal. Do you think you can do that?"

Castle moved back a step so he could look through the small window in the door before he looked back to Beckett and nodded. "Yeah," he decided, "I can do that."

Beckett nodded and then she grasped the handle and opened the door.


	34. Chapter 34

The two went and sat across the table from their suspect, neither speaking as they got themselves comfortable and Beckett placed the folders on the table in front of her.

As they were getting sorted the man across the table kept switching his gaze between the two of them, his eyes never ceasing their movement for more than a few seconds as he studied the both of them.

Beckett and Castle also took the chance to study him. He was dressed on the correct uniform, the same as every other uniform in the 12th, so if Gates hadn't been on guard then he would have gotten away no problem and no one would have even known he had been there in the first place.

Everyone remained silent; all studying the other side of the table carefully, wanting to see if there was anything there that they could use. Eventually Beckett decided it was time to speak. "Do you know why you are here?" she questioned, starting off with something that was easy and he was more likely to answer before going into the harder stuff when she was trying to get him to incriminate himself.

The man however stayed silent. Beckett had half been expecting it. She knew there were two ways this interrogation could go. The first was that the man would realise there was no way he was going to be able to talk himself out of this and confess. The second, the one that Beckett was coming to realise was the more likely to happen, was that the man just remained silent, refusing to answer any questions at all, and therefore giving Beckett and Castle nothing to use against him.

"Well," Beckett continued after waiting a few seconds to see if she was going to get any sort of response at all, whether verbal or other, "I'll give you points for trying, although maybe you should have used a badge number that didn't belong to a recent, female, academy graduate, there had to have been an officer somewhere who looked a little like you." Beckett and Castle both smirked at the suspect and Beckett smirked. If they weren't going to get him to answer questions then maybe they could just embarrass some sort of response out of him. "You might actually have gotten away with it too, but you lingered just a little bit too long at my desk, so my Captain caught you in the act, and now you get to talk to us."

Beckett stopped again, waiting for any sort of response. While the man across the table didn't make a sound his brow tightened, he was clearly frustrated that he had been caught, and Beckett smirked again, it looked like they were getting to him after all, even if it did seem like it was only a little bit.

Castle obviously noticed the small brow movement because out of the corner of her eye Beckett could see that he was smirking once again as well and had a knowing look in his eye.

Still smirking Beckett concentrated her full attention on the suspect and opened the top file. "So," she began conversationally, "How about I tell you what we've got and you tell me how close we are?"

The man made no response so Beckett began talking. "Cameron Mitchell was murdered a few days ago, correct," she started, keeping her tone conversational, allowing room for the suspect to jump in at any time, either to scoff at or deny anything that Beckett said, like she was hoping he would. "And then his girlfriend Cynthia disappears without a trace, her bank accounts are shut, and her mobile has been disconnected."

Beckett was watching the suspect carefully so she noticed when his eyes brightened slightly as she paused, obviously thinking that that was all they had, although he did quickly hide it again. Castle must have seen it too because he stiffened slightly in his chair. Under the table Beckett quickly reached out and gave his knew a gentle squeeze, a gentle reminder that he had to remain professional and not give anything away.

"My partner has a theory, that all of this is a spy mess run by one Jackson Hunt," Beckett explained, her tone still light and inviting, "Although you may know him as John Smith or Frank Simmons or Hank Carter." The man's brow tightened again, more notably this time and Beckett knew she was on the right track.

That was confirmed even further as the man finally spoke. "You really think I have something to do with a murder, a disappearance, and spies?"

Beckett didn't let her smile show, she'd finally gotten something out of him and now the rest of the interrogation was going to be that much easier. Once they started to speak suspects had a tendency to continue without thinking until they gave away something incriminating.

"Actually," Beckett continued, her tone changing from open to more mocking and sarcastic, "We really don't care about that, we have enough evidence to bring in everyone for questioning and then lock them up for a very long time." She took a breath before quickly continuing, stopping the man mid syllable as she barrelled on. "No, what we really really want to know is," she paused for a few seconds, glanced to her side to see if Castle was following what she doing, before smirking once again and continuing to say, "How on earth you thought that you had a chance in hell of making it out of here without being caught? I mean your badge number belongs to a woman, or is there something you want to tell the class?"

Beside her she saw Castle smile and nod, having caught on with what she was trying to do. Beckett looked expectantly at the man in front of her, her eyebrow quirked a little as she waited for a response.

The man in question had gone bright red in the face so Beckett knew that she was getting to him, even if she did feel a bit bad about it, but they needed answers and it looked like this was the easiest way to do it.


	35. Chapter 35

Beckett and Castle sat smirking at the suspect, watching as his face got redder and redder as he got angrier and angrier with what had been said.

On the other side of the glass Ryan and Esposito were both struggling to keep in their laughter, it had been a long time since they'd seen Beckett so blatantly mock a suspect to get a reaction from them. Gates was stood to one side, smiling slightly as she watched the Detective and writer at work. The three could see that they were getting closer and closer to some answers as the suspect's facial expressions kept changing, obviously deciding what he was going to do even as he turned redder and redder.

Beckett and Castle kept on smiling at the suspect, leaving the silence in place, making it seem as if they were waiting for his confession about the badge number but really just enjoying the opportunity to make the man in front of them feel uncomfortable, which it was clear he did.

Castle was relishing the opportunity to mess with one of the men who had some connection with his absent father, plus he was pretty sure that this approach was going to get them some answers, and if it didn't then he knew that Beckett would have another plan to get the answers they both so desperately wanted.

When the man didn't speak though Beckett tried another track, knowing that he was already flustered and hoping to use that to her advantage. "So you can't be a very good spy," she mussed, "You must be new to be caught when any other spy would have just blended right in and managed to get in and out without too much trouble." Beckett tilted her head to the side slightly. "This must have been you're first undercover assignment you had or something, no seasoned agent would have been as sloppy as using a woman's badge number, at least if you'd used a man's it would have taken longer for us to know it was fake and you might well have gotten away with it."

Beckett then turned to focus her gaze on Castle, pretending that the man was no longer in the room. "I don't think that he's all that smart," she stage whispered, making sure that the man could hear but also making it look like she was trying to hide it from him.

Castle nodded. "I'm going to have to agree with you their Beckett," he replied in the same volume of voice as Beckett, "I mean, if I he was one of my characters and he had messed up this badly I wouldn't have his handlers make any effort to come and get him out, I would just leave him on his own to make an example of him to any other newbies about thinking before you act."

"He doesn't like he'd survive long even if he did get out," Beckett pointed out.

"You're probably right," Castle agreed, "If and when he did eventually get out I'd probably have someone waiting for him to see what he had said and maybe even retire him if he'd been particularly stupid and made it very easy for the police to know that he wasn't who he said he was."

Beckett made a small noise of agreement before they turned back to the suspect. Along with the flush that was still in his cheeks the man was now fidgeting in his seat and looking around nervously, obviously Castle's little character had gotten to him and in his already flustered state it looked like it had made him highly agitated.

Beckett tilted her head to the side and looked back to Castle. "How would you retire your character Castle?" she wondered.

Castle shrugged. "Maybe I'd make it look like an accident," he pondered, "Like he'd stepped out in front of a car or something. Or maybe make it look like a suicide, write the note and everything to make people believe that he felt guilty for something and couldn't take it anymore so he'd decided to end his own life."

"What about just making his disappear?" Beckett suggested, "One day he just disappears never to be seen again."

"Not a bad idea Detective," Castle agreed, "Maybe send someone he knew a text or leave a voice mail telling them that he was going to go travelling so no one would suspect anything."

"Oh that is good," Beckett agreed, "I mean if it was me who took the call about his disappearance chances are that I would just write it off since he'd left a message saying he was going away. I mean he could have quite easily found a new life somewhere and have no intention of coming home."

Out of the corner of their eyes both Beckett and Castle could see that the suspect was now looking even more uncomfortable than previously and they knew that they were getting close to getting answers.

"I mean," Beckett continued, "The character wouldn't be of any use to his handlers if he was that stupid now would he."

Castle nodded. "He'd be seen as a liability," he agreed, "And they wouldn't want to run the risk of him telling someone something he shouldn't. Better to get rid of the problem in the bud than letting it becoming a full blown thing."

"Ok, ok," the man across the table blurted out, "I'll tell you what you want to know but you have to promise me that you're not going to let anything happen to me."

"If you tell us something that we don't already know," Beckett stipulated, "Then I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement."

The man across the table nodded quickly.

On the other side of the glass Esposito shook his head. "He really must be new if that was all it took to scare him; any seasoned agent knows that things like that don't happen very often."

Ryan shrugged while Gates spoke. "That may be Detective but if it's going to get us answers who are we to complain."

Esposito inclined his head in agreement then they all focused their attention on what was happening in the integration room once more.


	36. Chapter 36

Beckett and Castle both looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to start speaking. He was looking around the room nervously, his leg bouncing up and down as he did so. He was obviously ill at ease, but it looked an awful lot like he was getting ready to speak, to say something that would help them find Hunt.

"Ok ok," the man began, "I was sent here to try and find out what you'd found, and then I was to take any and all files, notes, and pictures I could find pertaining to your investigation."

Neither Beckett nor Castle looked impressed by his admission. "We already know that," Beckett chided, "You're going to have to do better than that if you want us to protect you."

Castle remained straight faced at her words, but he wanted to smile. He loved seeing Beckett like this, having total control over the room and the people in it. This was where he had first fallen in love with her, seeing how she managed to get answers even out of the hardest criminals. She was powerful in this room, and she was beautiful.

Across the table the man's leg began to bounce even more, his nervous energy trying to find some output.

Beckett and Castle watched him expectantly, waiting for him to say more, to tell them something that he thought was worthy of them keeping him safe. "I was told," he tried again, "That the victim was one of ours, and his girlfriend was too. I don't know what they were asked to do, just that they were to work in this country with the man you know as Hunt or Smith or Simmons or Carter, or whatever, as their handler."

"Keep going," Beckett instructed as he stopped talking.

The man nodded and Beckett and Castle saw him swallow hard before he spoke once more. "I only knew him as John Smith. I knew it wasn't his real name but it wasn't my place to ask who he actually is. I'm just clean up; I go in after an op and make sure that there's nothing left behind that can be linked back to the agency or the operatives involved."

Beckett and Castle shared a look, now they were beginning to get somewhere. They both looked back to their suspect expectantly, remaining silent so that they wouldn't break his chain of thought.

"All I was told was that the operation was over, and that one of the operatives had died. My orders were to clean out both the apartments, get rid of any trace that either operative had ever been there, while someone else took the woman in for debriefing," he continued, beginning to babble slightly.

"Do you know where the woman was taken?" Beckett asked; her tone more gentle now that he was talking.

He shook his head, "No, I never had anything to do with debriefs, I'm just clean up."

"Ok," Beckett accepted with a nod, "So why did my Captain find you here?"

The suspect looked around the room, his foot tapping again. Beckett and Castle waited patiently for him to speak again. "I cleaned up the woman's apartment, making sure that there was no trace left of her, and then I went back to base, where I was going to get my debrief." He looked back to Beckett and Castle. "I did that and was about to get sent back home, to wait for whatever it was I was going to have to do next, when Smith came to me. He didn't send someone else; he came to see me personally, and told me what he wanted me to do."

Beckett and Castle both understood that that was big news for him; it was obvious that people in his line of work rarely saw the man who was in charge. It was a guess but both of them suspected that an organisation like the CIA would keep everything on a need to know basis, and people like their suspect would take orders from one person, who would take there's from someone higher up.

"So what did he want you to do?" Castle prompted.

"Smith wanted me to get all the information you had on the death of the operative and the disappearance of the other. I came last night but couldn't find anything aside from the whiteboards. I rang Smith, asked him what he wanted me to do. He instructed me to leave everything as it was and then come back when you were all here, that way your files would be out because you'd be working with them. I came back over the lunch break; I was hoping to avoid as many people as possible and take the files, erase the board, and then leave you with nothing."

Castle and Beckett shared a look, both wanting to smile but both knowing that that would give the game away, knowing that they finally had something to go on.

Beckett turned back to their suspect. "Do you still have that number?"

The suspect nodded. "I had to remember it so that it wasn't written down anywhere."

"Tell us the number and then we'll see what we can do about keeping you safe," Beckett bargained.

It took less than a second for the suspect to nod. Beckett got her pen ready and then wrote down the number that the suspect reeled off.


	37. Chapter 37

As soon as they had the number written down and had checked it, Castle and Beckett headed out of the interrogation room and back out into the bull pen. Gates, Esposito and Ryan all filled out of the observation room and joined them.

"Good job Detective, Mr Castle," Gates congratulated them.

"Thank you sir," Beckett accepted.

"So who's going to make the phone call?" Esposito asked, "Now that we have a number."

Beckett and Castle shared a look. "I rather think that Detective Beckett should make the call," Gates suggested, "After all she was the one who got the number."

"Castle helped," Beckett pointed out."

"That he did," Gates agreed, although she didn't sound entirely happy about it, "But he isn't actually a member of the NYPD."

Castle nodded, "That I'm not."

"He's out mascot," Ryan joked.

They all laughed aloud, while Castle looked a little hurt, although he was soon laughing along with them.

"Make the call Beckett," Gates instructed as she headed back towards her office.

The four of them all headed back to their desks to make the call. Beckett and Castle took their seats while Esposito and Ryan pulled their chairs from their desks to sit with them, so they'd all be able to hear the phone call.

"I'm not going to be able to put it on speaker phone," Beckett stated, "Because chances are he'll know it and won't answer, if he even answers at all."

The three men all nodded their understanding and moved their chairs closer, in the hope that once Beckett made a connection they'd be able to hear at least a little of the conversation.

Beckett looked to Castle for a moment and he nodded, he was ready for this, because if the phone was answered then the person on the other end was his father, a man who had a lot of explaining to do.

Beckett looked at her phone then placed the piece of paper that she had written the number on beside it. She picked up the handset and placed it to her ear before she began to dial. She pressed the numbers slowly, making sure that each number was punched in correctly. When Beckett had input all the numbers she waited patiently for the call to connect.

"It's ringing," she muttered after a moment.

Castle let out a low sigh, it if was ringing that meant the number was still connected and hopefully meant that it was still in use, which would hopefully mean that someone was going to pick up on the other end.

"Still ringing," Beckett muttered.

"Come on, come on," Castle mumbled impatiently.

Beckett gave him a smile and rested a hand on his where it was lying on the table, telling him to calm down without words. Castle stopped mumbling but his leg began tapping impatiently.

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other then back to Beckett; they wanted this case over but didn't want answer as much as Beckett and Castle seemed to.

Their attention all snapped to Beckett as she spoke. "Ah John Smith I presume, or would you prefer I call you Jackson Hunt?"

With those words they all knew the call had been picked up and someone had greeted Beckett on the other end.

"Well Mr Hunt, I'm sure you recognise my voice, after all it would seem that you seem to know a lot about the direction my investigation has taken, after all you did send your man in here to steal all our files and information," Beckett said softly into the phone.

Everyone remained deathly silent as Beckett listened to what was being said on the other end of the line. "We're not going to meet you Hunt, not after the last time."

Castle leant in closer and heard the reply. "My dear Detective, you don't have much of a choice if you want your answers, we either meet or I disappear once again and you'll never hear from me again."

"Disappear the same way you did after your night with Martha Rogers all those years ago?" Beckett asked, "The night that your son was conceived."

Ryan and Esposito shared a look of sudden understanding, now they knew why Castle and Beckett had wanted answers so much, this man was Castle's absent father. They both looked to Castle, wondering how he was taking all of this, but all they saw was the man staring at Beckett intently.

"My you have been done a lot of digging," they all heard over the phone, "And are you sure that you still don't want to meet Detective."

Castle quickly scribbled something on the piece of paper with the number on it and moved it so that Beckett could read it. "We'll meet Hunt, but on our terms, we pick the time and we pick the place, no hoods over the head this time."

"You can't expect me to walk into a police precinct Detective," Hunt disagreed.

"I was thinking somewhere a little more public actually," Beckett explained, "That way we can be assured of everyone sticking to the plan."

"I'm all ears," came the faint reply.


	38. Chapter 38

"Are you sure this is a good idea Detective?" Gates asked for the second time.

"Yes sir," Beckett replied again, "We all want answers and this is the only way we have any possibility of getting them. Smith could have just disappeared and we never would have found him. But he picked up his phone when I rang and he's going to meet us, on our terms not his."

"Why would he do that Detective?" Gates inquired.

"He said that he wanted to meet to people who wouldn't even give up after being kidnapped, and then after an attempted robbery managed to break one of his cleaners," Beckett informed her.

"So nothing to do with him wanting to meet his son properly for the first time?" Gates asked, looking at Castle.

Beckett also glanced at Castle, who was watching the two of them carefully along with Ryan and Esposito, as they hashed out the details about their later meet with Hunt. "Maybe," Beckett stipulated, "He did mention Castle briefly."

"Then are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes sir," Beckett and Castle answered together. There was no way either of them were going to miss this, and there was no way they weren't going together.

Gates looked between the two of them. She must have realised just how much they wanted this because she nodded her head and accepted without any further questions. "Go," she muttered, "But make sure that your wires are on and at any sign of trouble you call for back up and get the hell out of there."

"Yes sir," they agreed together once again.

Gates took one last look at the four of them before she nodded and headed back into her office, leaving them to it.

"We've got the wires sorted and the time and the place," Beckett told them all as she and Castle straightened their clothes and checked that they had everything, "Is there anything else?"

"Only to make sure that you call us in as soon as there is even the slightest idea of things going wrong," Esposito responded.

"We got it Esposito," Beckett placated, "We know to be careful."

Esposito gave her a hard look. "He's already kidnapped the two of you once," he reminded them, "There's no telling what else he might do."

Beckett walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Javi, we know that he could do anything, but we also want answers, and he isn't going to try anything in a public place, he's not going to risk it."

Esposito still didn't look happy, and neither did Ryan when it came down to it, but neither said anything more, just nodded their heads and took a step back.

"Ready?" Beckett asked turning towards Castle, who had remained mostly silent since the phone call.

"Yes," Castle said with a nod although it was a little slow and unsure.

"Right lets go then," Esposito instructed.

"We'll meet you down there ok Espo," Beckett told him.

Esposito nodded and he and Ryan headed towards the lift. Beckett turned to Castle and tilted her head towards the break room. Castle wordlessly headed towards the break room without a word and Beckett followed along behind him.

"You sure you're ok Castle?" Beckett asked as soon as they were inside, "You've been a little quiet since the phone call."

Castle shrugged. "I'm ok."

Beckett looked around quickly and when she saw that no one was looking in their direction she moved closer to Castle, standing in front of him. "Everything is going to be ok," she assured him, "We're going to get the answers for what the hell has been happening with this case, as well as about him being your father." As she finished speaking she rose slightly on her toes and kissed him on the lips.

She broke away and took a few steps back, putting a more correct distance between the two of them, before she spoke again. "You can be in there with me Castle, but if you want to leave then you can, if it feels like it's too much then go. This case is different and no one will hold it against you if you want to leave if that makes you feel more comfortable."

Castle smiled at her. "Thanks Beckett."

Beckett smiled in response, reached out and gave his hand a squeeze before she turned and left the break room once more, heading towards the lift. Castle followed close behind her and soon the two of them were stood against the back of the lift.

Once the doors had shut the two had linked hands and waited for the lift to arrive at their floor. The doors opened once more and the two headed towards Beckett's cruiser, able to see Ryan and Esposito sitting in the car just behind it, waiting for them.

"Let's go this," Castle stated as they got into the car.

"That's the spirit," Beckett replied with a laugh as she started to car and pulled away, Esposito and Ryan not far behind.


	39. Chapter 39

They arrived at the coffee shop where they'd arranged to meet Hunt and Beckett parked the car by the curb. The two of them sat and then watched as Ryan and Esposito drove past them and parked a little down the block, close enough that they could be there quickly if they had to, but far enough away that it didn't look like they were watching the shop.

Beckett and Castle both sat in the car, taking a few moments before they headed into the coffee shop. "You sure you can do this Rick or do you want to just stay in the car?" Beckett asked, looking over at Castle who was sat in the passenger seat, fiddling with the cuff of his jacket.

He looked over to her and held her eye. "I'm your partner Beckett, there's no way I'm letting you go in there on your own."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Beckett assured him. "Ready?"

"Ready," Castle returned.

Beckett opened her door while Castle did the same on his side. Once they were both out they pushed the doors shut and Beckett locked the car before they joined hands and headed into the coffee shop.

"I'll go grab us a table," Beckett stated, "One by the window. Can you grab some coffees? Might as well have a drink while we're here."

Castle nodded and headed towards the counter while Beckett headed over to one of the tables that backed onto the window. She made sure to pick one that had three seats and she took the one that was pointed towards the door, leaving the other two for Castle to pick from.

Beckett kept an eye on everything that was going on in the coffee shop, and everyone who was coming and going through the door. Beckett's seat gave her a perfect view of the faces of the people who were coming in and out of the door and she made the most of it, keeping an eye out for Hunt.

Every so often she would glance over to where Castle was slowly making his way towards the counter, just to reassure herself that this wasn't just a ploy for Hunt to do something to his son.

Beckett was still sitting watching the door when Castle came to join her. "Any sign of him?" he asked as he sat down in the chair beside her, the one facing towards the window, and placed the coffee in front of her.

"No," Beckett answered, taking a drink of coffee before continuing to say, "But we were a little early. He's still got a few minutes until the time we arranged to meet."

Castle nodded and stared out of the window, every so often taking a drink of coffee. Beckett copied his actions, drinking her coffee while looking towards the door, waiting for Hunt to arrive. Castle had left his hand on the table and Beckett could see that he was nervous, his leg was bouncing up and down and the hand that was holding the coffee was shaking slightly, so she reached out and lay her hand over his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Castle flipped his hand over and linked their fingers together. They stayed like that as they both continued to stare at their chosen area. Castle would switch his gaze between the window, the door and every so often Beckett. Beckett gaze also swapped between the door and Castle, but she mainly concentrated on the door, it was rapidly approaching the time that they'd agreed to meet Hunt.

Beckett's phone dinged and she quickly checked it. "Text from Espo," she muttered to Castle, "They've seen someone who looks a lot like our sketch of Hunt walking down the block towards us."

"Looks like this is really happening then," Castle muttered.

"Looks like," Beckett replied, giving his hand another squeeze before she untangled their fingers.

Castle missed the feeling of her hand in his but knew why she'd done it, they didn't want to give Hunt anything that he could use against them, and that included the new step in their relationship.

The two carried on nursing their coffees, both now completely concentrating on the door, waiting for Hunt to walk in. Their vigilance was rewarded a few minutes later when Hunt came through the door.

He was wearing a long coat and a hat but they could tell it was him because his stance as he paused in the door way and looked around the ship for them, was almost identical to Castle's. Beckett quickly sent a quick text to Esposito, telling him that Hunt was here, before she put her phone away.

Hunt spotted the two of them and came towards them. Beckett looked to Castle one last time. She was worried about him, he had already shown that he had strong feelings towards this man, the father who had left before he had even been born, and Beckett just wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to say or do anything that he would regret, or that would jeopardise the case.

Hunt went slow as he made his way towards them, picking his way through the people who were moving about the coffee shop. Beckett and Castle both kept their eyes on him as he walked towards them, taking off his hat as he got closer and putting it into one of the pockets in his jacket.

As he reached the table to took the third and final seat at the table. The three all stared at each other, Castle and Beckett looking Hunt up and down while Hunt studied the two of them intently.

"So," Hunt began, "What do you want to know?"


	40. Chapter 40

Castle and Beckett shared a look. "We want to know what the hell you've been doing," Beckett began, "You try and cover up a murder, make a woman disappear without a trace, and you kidnap me and Castle to try and scare us into dropping the case."

"I obviously failed at that," Hunt pointed out.

"Yes, you certainly did," Beckett muttered. "What happened to Mitchel?"

"I can't tell you that Detective," Hunt informed them, "It is part of an on-going investigation that I'm not even meant to admit exists."

"Because the CIA is acting on US soil?" Beckett muttered.

Hunt just looked at her, not deigning to give her a verbal response. Beckett smirked. "What about Cynthia?" Beckett asked, "What happened to her?"

"She moved on with her investigation," Hunt answered, "And that is all I can tell you."

Beckett narrowed her eyes at him. "I need to know what happened to Mitchel," Beckett told him, "This case needs to be closed."

Hunt looked between the two of them; Beckett stared back at him, waiting for an answer, while Castle just stared at him silently. Hunt sighed. "He messed up and upset the wrong people who then killed him, that's all I can tell you except that you won't find who did it. They are professionals and they left the city as soon as Mitchel's body hit the ground."

"What were their real names?" Beckett asked, "Mitchel and Cynthia. Who are they really?"

"I can't tell you that," Hunt informed them, "But Mitchel's family have been informed of his death and will soon have his body back for burial."

"He's still in our morgue," Beckett muttered, "And he's not going anywhere until we have solved this case."

Hunt raised an eyebrow. "We have our ways of getting him out," he stated.

Beckett rolled her eyes at his words. "Would that be similar to the way that you were planning on taking all our notes, evidence and pictures from the precinct?" Beckett asked, her tone a little condescending.

"Ah yes," Hunt mused, "Our mutual friend, how did you get him to tell you everything, that's the only way you could have gotten my number."

Beckett and Castle shared a look. "We asked nicely," Beckett snapped, not really wanting to play games with Hunt. All she wanted, as she was sure Castle did, was some answers.

"Really Detective," Hunt chided, "I thought we were here to share information."

Beckett rolled her eyes. "We scared it out of him," she conceded, "We're good at that."

The tone of her voice left no doubt that that was the end of the matter and Hunt seemed to accept that as his head gave a small, unconscious, nod.

"You're not going to get that body," Beckett continued to say, "He is staying in the morgue right up until we find out what happened to him, the sooner we do that the sooner you can take him back to his family. So if you really did care anything for him you'll help us solve his murder and then give his family the closure they need."

Hunt stared at her intently, watching her. Beckett stared back at him, the two refusing to break eye contact with each other, waiting to see who would look away first.

Castle watched the two of them, wondering who was going to be the first to break. He knew that Beckett wasn't the type to give up, and Hunt didn't look like someone who was a push over either.

In the end it was Hunt who looked away, turning his gaze straight to Castle. "What do you think Mr Castle?" he asked, "Do you think that I'm not going to get that body until the case is solved to the Detectives satisfaction?"

Castle nodded. "You haven't got a chance Hunt," he told the man in a confident voice, "Beckett doesn't give up and neither do I. You help us solve the case or you can explain to Mitchel's family why they aren't getting their sons body back to bury."

Beckett watched him closely as he spoke; making sure that he was ok. When she saw that he was fine, that he wasn't about to does something stupid, she looked back to Hunt, waiting to see what he would say in response. What she saw on his face though surprised her. It was only a brief look but she was sure that she saw a flash of pride on his face, along with something that looked an awful lot like guilt. It was gone so quickly though that she wasn't a hundred per cent sure that she'd actually seen it.

Hunt looked between the two of them. "I did my research into the two of you," he began in a low voice, "And I know that you're telling the truth. You wouldn't back down after we tried to frighten you into it and you even had the forethought to hide everything you had so that we couldn't get to it. I'll help you with the case, but the woman you know as Cynthia is going to have nothing to do with it, we can't risk it."

"What are you suggesting then?" Beckett asked.

"I work with your team," Hunt stated, "And help you work out what happened."

"I thought you already knew what happened," Castle butted in.

Hunt looked at him then shook his head. "No, we don't actually," he stated, "We have our suspicions about the who and the why but we have no proof to back it up."

"Well proof is something that we can help you with," Beckett stated, "But you're going to have to be a hundred per cent honest with us, you can't keep back anything."

"I'm going to have to keep some back," Hunt countered, "I can't risk the lives of the other operatives on this case."

Beckett frowned. She glanced to Castle, wondering what he was thinking. He gave a low nod and she looked back to Hunt, they weren't going to get everything they needed but hopefully they were going to get enough to work out what had happened.

"Also," Hunt muttered, "When all this is over I'm just going to disappear again, there's going to be no way that you can prosecute me for out first meeting."

"Oh do you mean our kidnapping?" Beckett asked. Hunt was silent and Beckett shook her head. "Fine," she muttered, "Whatever. If we close this case then we won't arrest you for kidnapping an NYPD homicide detective and her civilian partner, but if we don't solve this case then I make no promises. The Captain is going to want some sort of result, plus she isn't happy about you kidnapping us in the first place."

Hunt looked between the two of them before he nodded, "Agreed."

"Good," Beckett muttered, "Now come back to the precinct with us and we'll get started on this."

Castle and Beckett quickly drank the dregs from their cups before the three of them all stood and walked out of the door, heading for Beckett's car.


	41. Chapter 41

**So I've just realised that this story has taken on a bit of a mind of its own and instead of being a few chapters its just going on and on, and I'm not really sure when it's going to finish. I just want to thank everyone who's read this and who has stuck with it when the updates have sometimes been a long time in the works.**

Together they arrived at the 12th, Ryan and Esposito pulling up behind them having followed them back from the coffee shop. They all pulled up in front of the precinct together and Ryan and Esposito got out and moved to stand beside Beckett's car, while Castle and Beckett all turned in their seats to look at Hunt.

"We're going to go into the precinct," Beckett informed him, "And then we're going to go up to the homicide floor. You are not under arrest but any funny business and you soon will be. Also, our Captain isn't going to be happy about this, so let me explain what we're going to do before you say or do anything."

Hunt nodded. "Of course Detective," Hunt agreed.

Beckett narrowed her eyes for a half second, making sure that Hunt truly understood what she had said, before she got out of the car, Castle doing the same thing.

"We sure about this?" Ryan asked when the four of them were all standing outside; Hunt still sat in the car since he couldn't get out on his own.

Beckett glanced at Hunt then back to Ryan. "No," she answered honestly, "But we don't really have any other options if we want to get to the bottom of this. We need to know what they were doing, what their mission was, before we have any sort of chance to solve this."

Ryan and Esposito both nodded but neither looked entirely convinced by what Beckett had said.

"He's not going to leave my sight," Beckett assured them all, "We're not going to let him try anything, or sabotage our case at all." She then looked around at the three men standing before her before glancing back at Hunt. "Now all we need to do is get the Captain on board with all of this."

"I think we'll leave that one to you," Ryan muttered as Beckett opened the door to let Hunt out onto the pavement.

"Mmmm," Beckett agreed as she shut the door and then locked the car.

Hunt looked around the four people who were now penning him in. "You must be Detectives Ryan and Esposito," he greeted the two of them, "Nice to finally meet you."

Ryan and Esposito shared a look before the two of them turned and headed into the precinct, neither responding to Hunt in any way. Beckett gestured for Hunt to follow after them and once he had started walk she and Castle fell in behind. The five walked into the precinct and towards the lift, keeping Hunt sandwiched between the two pairs, Beckett keeping her eyes fixed on his as they walked.

Ryan pressed the call button for the lift and when it arrived the five of them got in and pressed the button for the homicide floor. They all stood in the lift in silence, no one speaking and no one making eye contact with anyone else as they all waited for the lift to arrive.

When it did the five of them stepped out and headed towards Beckett's desk, all ignoring the looks that the rest of the detectives and uniforms were giving them as they passed, they all recognised Hunt from the drawing that had been pinned up on the teams murder board, and they all wondered why he wasn't in cuffs.

"You go and sit in there," Beckett instructed, nodding towards one of the interrogation rooms, "And Esposito and Ryan will keep an eye on you while I talk to the Captain."

Hunt nodded and continued to walk towards interrogation, following Esposito while Ryan followed him. Beckett watched them go and then turned to Castle. "You want to come with me to do this Castle?" she asked.

Castle nodded and the two of them headed towards Gates' office. Beckett knocked and then the two of them walked in.

"Detective, Castle," Gates greeted, "Did my eyes deceive me or did I see Hunt walking towards interrogation with Detective Ryan and Detective Esposito?"

"Yes sir," Beckett told her.

"Does that mean he's under arrest?" Gates questioned, because I didn't see any cuffs on him."

"Um," Beckett muttered, looking at the floor, "No, he's not."

Gates frowned at her. "Explain Detective," she instructed.

Beckett nodded. "He's agreed to come in and help us close the case. Our victim was undercover and isn't a real person so we don't have any leads that can help us, so we need someone who knew what their mission was to help us and tell us who could have killed Mitchell. Hunt has agreed to do it, but we have told him that if it doesn't pan out, he will be under arrest, and he has agreed to the terms."

Gates looked at her for a moment, looking the two of them up and down, before she nodded slowly. "Ok Detective," she muttered, "If you think you can trust him and work with him then so be it."

"I never said I trusted him," Beckett was quick to disagree, "But at the moment both of us want the same thing, to find out who killed Mitchell."

"Ok Detective," Gates agreed, "You go and solve this but keep an eye on him, if we do solve the case then so be it, but if we don't he will be charged with every single thing I can think of."

"Yes sir," Beckett agreed with a smile, Castle also smiling at her words.

The two then turned and left, heading towards the interrogation room that Esposito had led Hunt into. On the way though they stopped and looked in on their uniformed imposter.

"We've got your boss ion next door," Beckett told him.

The man looked around in a panic. "You said you'd protect me," he stuttered, "You have to protect me."

"Don't worry," Beckett assured him, "I'll be true to my word and you'll be safe, we might even be able to work it out that you can go back to work if you want to."

"How would you do that?" the man asked.

"Well," Beckett told him, "If that's something that you would want then I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement with Hunt."

"But you said that they'd kill me," the man mumble.

Beckett just smiled at him before she turned and left, Castle close on her heels. The two of them then headed next door, where they could see Ryan and Esposito glaring at Hunt, who was sitting at the table, neither speaking as word.


	42. Chapter 42

Castle and Beckett took the seats opposite Hunt while Ryan and Esposito moved back but stayed in the room. Hunt's gaze moved between the four of them again and again, spending a handful of seconds on each of the Detectives but Beckett and Castle were both sure that his gaze always lingered longer on Castle before he moved on to Beckett once again.

"What were Mitchell and Cynthia sent here to do?" Beckett asked, breaking the silence and starting the ball rolling.

"We had information on a possible sleeper cell here in New York," Hunt started to say, "So we sent the two of them in undercover to see if they could get into the cell, or if they couldn't do that then find out as much as possible about the group."

"Did they manage it?" Beckett asked.

"All I can tell you is that they made contact," Hunt informed the room, "Everything else is classified, and I really can't divulge."

Beckett and the others all nodded their heads in understanding that was fair enough.

"Was his murder anything to do with the terrorist cell?" Esposito asked.

"No," Hunt replied, "If it had been we would have succeeded in shutting down your case. He had to upset a lot of people to get the members of the cell to trust him, and we think that it was one of those people that shot him five times."

"Ok," Beckett accepted, "We're going to need their names to work through to find out alibies and if anyone has any especially pressing reasons to have wanted to kill him."

Hunt nodded. "I'm going to need access to a computer in that case, so that I can get those names for you."

Beckett narrowed her eyes at him, she really wasn't sure if that was such a good idea, they did however need to names, so she nodded. "Ok Hunt, but Ryan will be standing over your shoulder the whole time."

"You going to make sure I behave myself?" Hunt teased, looking at Ryan.

Ryan ignored him while Beckett muttered, "Do I have your agreement Hunt?"

"Yes Detective," Hunt agreed, "He can make sure that I behave myself."

Beckett rolled her eyes but otherwise made no response. "Ryan," she said looking at him, "Go and set up your computer for Hunt to use, and make sure that he can't get into our records, files and databases."

Ryan nodded and headed out of the room.

"You don't trust me do you Detective," Hunt observed.

"Whatever gave you that impression?" Beckett asked sarcastically.

Castle then finally spoke, his voice quiet but he managed to keep his tone level, steady and even, which both he and Beckett were proud of. Beckett knew that this was hard on him, wondering if this man really was his father and having to question him as well, which was evident from the way he'd hardly spoken at all since the meeting in the coffee shop.

"Why is it that you agreed to meet us?" he asked, "You could have just let the case go cold, like some always do."

Hunt stared at him, looking him dead in the eye, and Beckett realised that they had the same eyes and then she knew that without a doubt Castle was Hunt's son.

"Because," Hunt responded, "I want to know who killed my man and you and your team are the best way of doing that, you are one of the best teams in the city and definitely in this precinct."

Beckett narrowed her eyes but Castle seemed to take what he had said and stayed silent.

"Is there anything else we need to know before we start finding some new leads?" Esposito asked, staring at Hunt as he spoke.

"No," Hunt replied.

"Are you sure?" Beckett pressed.

"Yes," Hunt assured them, "That's everything that you need to know."

Beckett studied him for a moment then must have decided that he was telling the truth because she stood, Castle doing the same beside her, and headed for the door. She opened it and let Esposito through and muttered, "Go next door and make sure it's empty and all the equipment is off ok, we need a word with Hunt about something."

Esposito looked between Castle, Beckett and Hunt and then nodded and left. Beckett watched through the open door as he went into the room next door. Once he was inside she shut the door and turned back to Hunt. This time she didn't sit down though, she moved to stand beside Castle instead and the two of them looked at Hunt, who was still sat at the table.

"We want to ask you something," Beckett said.

"Well I thought that that was what we were doing Detective," Hunt replied.

Beckett ignored the words and then pulled out her phone and pulled up a picture of Martha on the screen. "Do you recognise this woman?" she asked him as she held out her phone for him to see.

Hunt looked at the photo and then Castle and Beckett saw as his eyes widened minutely and his jaw clenched slightly too. Castle and Beckett shared a look and then waited for Hunt to speak.

"That's why you call me Hunt," he finally muttered, "I had been wondering why."

"So you do know her then," Beckett pushed.

"Yes," Hunt answered, "It was a long time ago but I would know that face anywhere." He looked at Castle. "I've watched you for years."

"I know," Castle muttered, "We worked it out after we had our first meeting."

Castle looked to Beckett and she gave him a smile, offering him strength, before he turned back to Hunt. "Why?" Castle asked, "Why did you never tell me who you were? Why did you let me think that you'd abandoned me and mother before I was even born?"

"Because it was easier that way, it safer for you and for Martha if you didn't know who I was, or what I did," Hunt told him.

Castle just shook his head and then walked out of the room. Beckett and Hunt watched him go. Beckett could see that Hunt wasn't happy that Castle had left and walked out but he wasn't letting it show too much.

"He's been trying to process all of this," she stated, "Ever since we found out who you were and worked out that you were probably his father he's been struggling to work through all of this, he doesn't know what to make of all of this." She paused for a moment. "To him all you are is the man who left his mother to raise him, you never made any sort of effort to get to know him, and he hates you for it, he tries not to, because you're his father, his flesh and blood, but you're also the man who made him famously fatherless."

Hunt looked away. "I know," he muttered eventually, "And I want to make it up to him but chances are I'm not going to be able to, I've left it too long to do anything, to change anything."

"It's never too late," Beckett told him, "Help him with this case, and then see where it goes from there."

Hunt nodded. "Ok Detective," he muttered.

Beckett then gestured for him to stand, which he did, and the two headed for the door. "Detective," Hunt said in a low voice as she opened the door, "I'm glad that you and my son are together, you are good for each other."

Beckett smiled at him. "Thank you," she muttered before she walked out of the door, heading towards her desk.

Hunt followed her out and then walked towards Ryan's desk, where he was waiting for Hunt to use him computer.


	43. Chapter 43

Beckett couldn't see Castle when she left interrogation so once she was sure that Hunt and Ryan were sorted, and that the older man was going to do what they wanted him to, she went to go and look for him.

As she walked past the observation room Esposito walked out. Beckett paused when Esposito moved to stand in front of her, blocking her path. "So," he started, "He really is Castle's father."

"Looks like," Beckett agreed, her eyes roving around, looking for any sign of Castle.

Esposito saw how impatient she was to move on. "Go," he said, "Go and find your boy, I'll keep an eye on Hunt and Ryan."

"Thanks," Beckett accepted before she walked past him and headed for the break room, planning on starting her search there.

When she saw that Castle wasn't in there, no one was, she moved on. She checked in all of the storage cupboards and rooms along her path but found nothing. She also decided that she was going to check the gym, which was where she'd found her last time.

He wasn't in there either and Beckett took a moment to pause and think it over, she hadn't found him in any of the obvious places so she thought about the few places she hadn't checked, because she hadn't thought of it or it had slipped her mind.

It took her a moment but then she had a thought and turned around and headed back towards the bull pen. She stopped at the door of the men's and knocked. When there was no response from inside Beckett pushed the door open and walked in.

She knew that she had been on the right track when she saw Castle leant against the counter, his head resting against the mirror and his fists clenched on the edge of the counter.

"Hey Rick," Beckett began softly as she walked towards him and rested a hand over one of his fists.

Castle didn't speak but she felt as his fist relaxed slightly, although it was still clenched.

"Come on Castle," Beckett whispered, "Let's go find somewhere a little more comfortable so we can talk ok."

Castle still didn't speak but he did nod and Beckett intertwined their fingers and then led the way out of the bathroom and down the corridor towards the file room. She knew that something was off with Castle because he didn't make any comment, inappropriate or otherwise, about Beckett taking him into the file room.

Once inside Beckett shut the door and then turned to Castle. "Let's sit," she suggested, still keeping her voice quiet.

She pulled him towards the back corner of the room, where she knew that someone had placed an old sofa a few years ago so people could use it as a quiet place to catch a few minutes sleep if they needed it. It wasn't the most comfortable sofa in the world, which Beckett knew from experience from more than one seemingly never ending case. It was however quiet and private which was all Beckett really cared about right now.

Beckett say them both down and then turned her body towards Castle, taking his other hand in hers and squeezing both of them. She stayed silent for a few minutes; right now she just wanted to be there for Castle, the talking could come later. She did however move closer, so that she was sitting pressed up against his side, offering him comfort from just being close.

Even though she was holding his hands they were still tense and Beckett could tell that if she hadn't have been holding them they would still have been clenched fists. As they sat she used her thumb to trace small circles on the back of his hands.

Eventually she felt his hands begin to relax and knew that it was time for her to start talking. "Castle," she whispered, her forehead resting against the side of his head, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Castle shrugged. "What is there to talk about?" he asked, "He left. He watched me my whole life and never let me know who he was, or even that he was there. He says it was to keep me safe but that doesn't actually help all that much, he still made me grow up without him and that's all I can think of now."

"I know he was never there Castle," Beckett began slowly, "But he did have his reasons. Like you said he wanted to keep you safe. He's a spy Rick, there is probably a lot in his life that he wants to protect you from and probably quite rightly too. He may not have gone about it in a way that you like Rick but in his mind that was the best option he had available to him."

Castle just shook his head, knocking it lightly against Beckett's as he did so. "Rick," Beckett tried again, "He regrets what he did Castle, he told me he does. But he thinks that it's too late, that there's nothing he can do to make it up to you." She paused and let go of one of his hands and then used her free hand to turn his face towards her, so that their foreheads were touching. "I told him that it wasn't too late, that it's never too late. He wants to make things right Rick and I know that you, at least part of you, wants to give him that. You're too kind hearted and loving to do anything but, and that's one of the reasons I love you. You will always forgive even if you don't forget."

Castle blinked a few times and then leant his head more heavily against Beckett's. "I just wish that I had known him," he whispered, "I just wish that I had had the chance before now."

"I'm sorry Rick," Beckett muttered, "I really really am." She then tilted her head and kissed him softly.

Castle returned the kiss but then Beckett pulled back and rested her head against his once more. "I really am sorry Castle," Beckett muttered, "But we need to go back out there and work with him to solve this. Do you think you can manage that or would you rather go back to the loft?"

It took Castle a few seconds to answer but when he did he said, "No, I'll stay. I want to see this through to the end, and maybe this will give me a chance to get to know him better."

"Maybe it will," Beckett agreed softly, "So long as you're sure you can handle this."

"Don't worry Beckett," Castle assured her, "You don't need to worry about me holding everyone back."

"That's not what I'm worries about Rick," Beckett muttered, "I know that you are good at this. What I'm worried about is that you might decide to do something reckless, to try and impress your dad or whatever, and I really can't deal with loosing you."

Castle gave her a small, reassuring, smile. "I won't do anything stupid Kate, I promise. I have nothing to prove to him. He's watched me my whole life, he knows what I can do, I don't feel the need to do anything other than maybe give him a piece of my mind."

Beckett shook her head. "But you won't," she pointed out as the two of them stood.

"No," Castle agreed, "I won't."

The two headed for the door and as they reached it and opened it Beckett muttered, "He's happy for us you know. He told me so. He says that we're good for each other."

They walked down the corridor and back towards the bull pen as Castle said, "Well I guess that we agree on that."

Beckett laughed and knew that, at least for now, Castle was ok, he was going to be able to handle this.


	44. Chapter 44

The two went back to the desks and sat. There wasn't really much they could do until Hunt was finished with what he was doing on Ryan's computer. Once they had sat Esposito moved to sit beside them.

"What have they been doing?" Beckett asked him.

"Not much," Esposito responded in a low voice, "Hunt's logged on to whatever it was that he wanted to and the two of them have been going through that. They've printed off a fair amount so far but I haven't been able to look at it, Ryan's kept a hold of it all for now."

Beckett nodded her head in understanding; it made sense that Ryan would want everything together before he gave it to anyone.

With nothing else to do other than wait Beckett sat down at her desk and began to go over it, moving things around so that everything was just so. Esposito stayed watching Ryan and Hunt, keeping an eye on the two of them, while Castle moved to sit in his chair.

He sat tapping his fingers against his leg while Beckett continued to go over her desk. Soon though the tapping, the repetitive sound of Castle's fingers against the fabric on his leg, got annoying, and Beckett reached out and placed her hand over his, stilling his hand and stopping the noise dead.

"Relax Castle," she breathed, just loud enough for him to hear, "Calm down and take a breath ok."

She kept her hand over his until he had taken a few deep breathes and then she took her hand away and returned to tidying her desk. Castle managed to sit still and calm for a few minutes but soon he felt the need to tap return. Rather than tapping though, which he knew annoyed Beckett, he reached out and began to play with the elephants that lined the Detectives desk.

Beckett watched him and shook her head at his fiddling but didn't say anything, just left him to it. He was in the process of moving them all to stand in a circle, all facing inwards. As Beckett watched he began to move them all slightly and at first it confused her. After glancing at his face though she saw that his lips were moving ever so slightly. She smiled when she realised what he was doing, he was telling a story with the elephants and acting like they were real and living the story.

She shook her head and left him to it, if it was keeping him occupied and not tapping then Beckett was happy to let him keep going. If it had been at any other time then chances were she would have teased him about it, but right now she knew that he was reeling, and if this was the way that he was going to deal with it then so be it.

The two of them carried on with what they were doing, Beckett working around Castle's little elephant circle as she sorted out all the files and paperwork that seemed to just appear on her desk. Esposito would glance at the two of them every so often and then would turn back to watching Ryan Hunt.

Nearly an hour later Ryan and Hunt both stood and moved away from Ryan's desk and computer. "We're done," Ryan informed them all before moving to one of the murder boards and flipping it to the clean side. He then began to stick up all the paper he had in his hands. Most of them were pictures and every time one went up Hunt would write beside it the name and what it was that Mitchell had had to do to them.

Beckett, Esposito and Castle all moved so that they could see the board more clearly and read what it was that Hunt was writing. It took a few moments for Hunt to move along the board enough for them all to see. Hunt was writing the name, age, date of birth and then a brief description of what Mitchell had had to do.

They were mostly small things, a lot of them didn't break any laws, but even those could have been enough to make someone snap and want to kill Mitchell. There were a few though that jumped out at Esposito, Beckett and Castle though as more serious and even more likely to lead someone to want to kill.

"He certainly pissed off a lot of people," Esposito observed.

"He did," Hunt agreed, "But it had to be done if we wanted to be able to infiltrate the cell."

Beckett shook her head. Hunt saw the movement and turned to her. "You may not like our methods detective…"

"Now whatever gave you that impression," Beckett interrupted sarcastically.

Hunt ignored her and continued to say, "But it worked and when it comes to terrorist cells in our own back yard then we really can't afford to pull any punches."

Beckett just shook her head again and Hunt went back to writing on the board.

As soon as Ryan had finished putting the pictures on the board he moved back to join Esposito, Beckett and Castle and the four of them all watched as Hunt finished up. As soon as he had written the last word under the last photo he stepped back, capped the pen, and put it down.

"Done," he muttered, "Now let's see what you can all make of this."

The three Detectives all moved forward, so that they could see the board more clearly and see what they had to work with. Castle stayed back however and Hunt came to stand beside him. The two remained silent as they watched the detectives work.

Castle couldn't help but keep glancing at the man beside him out of the corner of his eye and he noticed that Hunt was doing a similar thing. "I am proud of you," Hunt muttered, "I know that you resent me for never being around and you have every right to feel like that, but I am proud of you and everything you've done."

"Thanks," Castle mumbled in response. He then turned to face Hunt properly and asked, "When this is over, do you think that it would be possible…" he paused and shook his head, "Never mind."

Hunt gave him a smile. "I'd love to get to know you properly Rick and give you the chance to ask all the questions you have."

Rick smiled at him then the two of them turned their attention back to the murder board and the pictures and information that was there.


	45. Chapter 45

"Well," Beckett said a while later, "Some of these are more viable suspects than others."

"Yeah," Esposito agreed, "But any of them could have done it."

"They could have yes," Beckett muttered, "But I say we start with the most likely suspect's first, see if anything sticks; then we can move on to the less likely on the list."

Esposito and Ryan both nodded. Beckett quickly looked over the list grabbed a pad of paper from her desk. "So who do we think needs to be checked out first?"

"Him," Ryan said straight away, pointing at one of the pictures, "If someone had done that to me I would have wanted revenge."

The others all read what was written by the photo. "Mitchell slept with his wife, more than once," Castle stated, "I'd say that would lead a lot of people to want to kill."

Beckett nodded and wrote down the name that went with the picture. As the rest of them looked over the photos Beckett turned to Hunt. "Anyone on the board that you think we need to pay special attention to?"

Hunt nodded. "Those three," he said as he gestured to three photos on the board, "Mitchell wrote in his report that those three in particular were after his blood after what he had had to do."

Everyone turned to look at those photos in particular.

"How does him beating a guy up help with his mission?" Esposito asked.

"He never went into specifics about it," Hunt explained, "All he said was that it was necessary to proceed with the mission."

Esposito shook his head but then turned back to the board and continued to look at it. Beckett made a note of the three names and then they all looked over what was on the board, looking for anyone else that could possibly be at the top of the list.

By the time they'd gone over the whole board they'd picked out a list of names that had to most motive to go after Mitchell. There were a few more affairs but most were breaking and entering where someone had gotten hurt in the process of the robbery.

"Esposito, Ryan," Beckett instructed, "Look into these people, get address and send them to me so we can go and talk to them, see if they really did want to kill Mitchell and if they have an alibi for the night he was murdered."

Ryan and Esposito both nodded and headed to their desks. As they started typing Beckett turned to Castle. "You alright to come with?" she asked him.

"Yep," Castle agreed, "Whenever you're ready."

Beckett smiled and nodded in response. She then turned to Hunt. "I want you to come with us; I don't want to leave you here on your own when Ryan and Esposito also start chasing down leads."

"Do you not trust me detective?" Hunt asked.

Beckett rolled her eyes then levelled a glare at him. "I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you Hunt, which I'm sure you can understand."

Hunt smirked and Beckett rolled her eyes again. She walked away and Castle followed her. As soon as they were out of earshot Beckett turned to Castle. "If there was any doubt about him being your father then he just put it to rest."

Castle smiled. "I saw the eye rolls," he looked back to where Hunt was watching them, although he hadn't moved, "Was I really that bad?"

"What do you mean was?" Beckett asked, "You are that bad." She gave him a sweet, innocent, smile.

Castle pouted but he couldn't keep it up and was soon smiling along with Beckett.

"So," Castle muttered eventually, "When we going to go and get some alibis?"

"As soon as we get some addresses," Beckett answered, "Then we can go to some of them, and Ryan and Esposito can take the rest."

"Ok," Castle agreed.

The two then turned and headed back to the rest of the group. "How many you got?" Beckett asked Esposito and Ryan as she and Castle came to a stop beside them.

"A little over half of them so far," Ryan said, handing Beckett a sheet of paper, "Why don't you get started and Espo and I will find the rest then start."

"Sure thing," Beckett said as she read through the list. She then moved to her desk and grabbed her coat and her folder. Castle also grabbed his coat from where he had thrown it across the back of his chair earlier. The two then looked to Hunt. He stood and grabbed his jacket as well.

"Call if you find anything," Beckett instructed the other detectives, "And we'll meet back here if none of us find anything."

Esposito and Ryan both nodded before they returned to searching for the rest of the addresses.

Beckett, Castle and Hunt all headed for the lift. Once inside they all stood in an awkward silence as the lift made its slow journey to the ground floor. It had to stop on a few floors along the way and the people that got in lessened the awkwardness, but it was still present.

When they reached the ground floor they got out and headed for the car. Castle walked round to the passenger side while Beckett waited for Hunt to get in. "Can you take off the child locks please Detective?" Hunt asked her as he opened the door, "You can at least trust me not to run away."

"Not a chance," Beckett told him, "The locks stay on, just to make sure you don't try anything funny."

Hunt stared at her for a few seconds and Beckett stared back, refusing to back down. Eventually he sighed and got into the car. Beckett smiled to herself and shut the door after him before she got into the driver's seat and got ready to go.

She started the engine then checked the first address on the list. Once she knew where she was going she put the car into gear and pulled away from the curb. They drove in silence, Beckett alternating between stealing glances at Castle, who was doing the same thing, and glaring at Hunt in the rear view mirror.

Beckett couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen between Castle and Hunt after all this was over. Some part of her wondered if Hunt would actually let them get to know each other after the case was over, or if he was just going to disappear like the spy he was. Beckett hoped he was going to stick around, because she knew that while Castle wasn't ready to forgive him, if he was ever able to at all, she knew that he wanted to get to know his father.

She glanced at Castle again and when she saw that he was looking at her she gave him a smile. He smiled back then both turned back to face front as they headed for the first address.


	46. Chapter 46

**I'm so jealous at the moment. I'm at college doing an apprenticeship while basically everyone else I know has gone away to uni, which means they've all finished and are now on holiday until September while I'm still at college for another month or two. TO make matters worse the sun has come out and it is bloody lovely weather and I'm stuck inside. Plus, my best friend is going to Shanghai for a month tomorrow and my other friend is going to America today for the best part of three months. And just to top it all off I've done something to my wrist that makes typing quite painful.**

**Anyway here's the next chapter, I hope you like it.**

They got through about half of their list of addresses without finding anything. When the people on the list had been told about Mitchell's death there had been mixed reactions. While they had all been wronged by Mitchell, and in quiet a big way too, most of them seemed genuinely sorry to hear about it, although it was easy to see that they weren't going to miss him after what he had done to them.

All the people that they had talked to so far had had what seemed like solid alibis, but they all needed checked out when they got back to the precinct. Even the people who didn't even pretend to be sorry about what happened had stories ready to tell about where they had been, and most had had evidence like receipts to prove that they had been there.

After leaving yet another address, where the person they needed to talk to had all but danced with joy when he found out that Mitchell was dead. Beckett hadn't been impressed by his attitude when they'd told him about the death, and it was almost as if he was proud to be asked for an alibi.

"I kind of hope his alibi doesn't stick," Castle muttered as they exited the building, "He was just a little too happy to hear that he had died."

"Mitchell did sleep with his wife," Hunt pointed out, "And his girlfriend."

Beckett shook her head, "And it was his fault that the wife found out about the girlfriend." She looked between the two men. "He might have done it, he might not have, we can't jump to conclusions just yet and Castle, we've already talked about how you can't just jump right to guilty because you don't like the guy."

"That we have," Castle agreed, "But you have to got to agree that he certainly has potential as a suspect from that reaction."

"Maybe," Beckett agreed.

The three then stopped talking and all got into the car to go to the next address.

Much later they left the house of their penultimate suspect and headed back to the car once more.

"One more," Beckett informed them once they were all in and the doors shut, "And then we head back to the precinct so we can work with Ryan and Esposito to check out the alibis."

The two men nodded and then Beckett drove off, heading for the last address, which was an office in a building fairly close to the precinct. The man they were going to see was one of the people who Mitchell had beaten up, and by the looks of it he had been worst off of them all.

"So," Beckett started as they drove, "Can we know why this man had to get such a beating or is that classified?"

"It's classified Detective," Hunt told her, "You know that. But even if I could tell you I wouldn't be able to. I've already said that Mitchell would never go into details about why he had to do some things, like beat up those men, but he never actually said why he had to do it, just that it had to be done."

Beckett shook her head; she was getting really feed up with the secrecy around this case. She knew that it was there for a reason, and terrorism was a pretty good reason, but it was making her case difficult to get any head way on.

Beckett sighed and Castle reached across and gave her hand on the steering wheel a quick squeeze before he dropped his hand back into his own lap. That single action, and a quick glance at Castle's face, told her that Castle felt very much the same as she did about the whole secrecy thing that was going on.

They finished the drive in silence, everyone keeping their eyes front and centre and not letting them wonder like they had before.

Beckett pulled up in front of the final address but before she got out she turned in her seat so that she could see both Castle and Hunt. "This is the last address. As soon as we're done here we're going back to the precinct to check up on alibis."

Both men nodded then Castle and Beckett got out of the car. Hunt sat and waited for Beckett to open his door before he too got out. Once all three of them were on the sidewalk they headed into the building. Beckett headed straight for the reception desk, Castle and Hunt flanking her, and said, "I'm here to see Walter Bishop."

"Do you have an appointment?" the receptionist asked, not looked up from her computer.

"No," Beckett answered, "I don't." She then placed her folder on the top of the counter, loud enough to make the receptionist look up and see the badge. "But I think he's going to want to see me."

The receptionist moved to pick up her phone but Beckett shook her head. "If it's all the same to you I'd rather he didn't know we were coming."

Hunt and Castle shared a puzzled look then turned their puzzled eyes to Beckett. She saw the look and muttered, "I have a feeling that we want to surprise him."

Castle nodded, he trusted Beckett's judgement and if she said they needed to surprise him then surprise him they would. Hunt still looked confused but he also looked resigned, he was only really along for the ride after all, so he was just going to have to follow Beckett to get to the bottom of the murder of his agent.

The receptionist just stared at them before she said, "He's in the third office on the left."

"Thank you," Beckett accepted before she led the way down the hall.

Castle noted that as they walked she had unclipped the top of her holster, so that she could draw her gun more easily, but he didn't comment on it, he trusted her. Hunt also noticed but he too made no comment about it. He was a spy and Beckett wasn't the only one getting ready in case something was up.

They got to the door and the three of them paused. Beckett knocked on the door. "Come in," a voice said from the other side of the door.

Beckett smiled, knocking was by far the easiest way to see if someone in a room and if they were going to stay there or leg it.

"Mr Bishop," Beckett greeted as she pushed the door open, "I'm Detective Beckett; we need to ask you some questions."

"Of course Detective," Bishop answered, "But I'm afraid it will have to be quick, I have a meeting that I need to leave for in fifteen minutes."

"This shouldn't take too long Mr Bishop," Beckett assured him.

Bishop nodded and gestured for Beckett to take the seat opposite his. Beckett sat and Castle took the second seat while Hunt moved to stand behind them, looming ever so slightly.

"Mr Bishop," Beckett began to say, "Do you know a Cameron Mitchell?"

It took Bishop a moment to answer but when he did it wasn't hard to hear the hate in his voice. "If you mean the Cameron Mitchell who slept with my wife and then broke three of my ribs when I confronted him about it then yes I do know him."

Castle threw a glance to Hunt but Hunt refused to move his gaze away from.

"That would be him yes," Beckett accepted.

"What about him?" Bishop asked.

"Well Mr Bishop," Beckett stated, "He's been murdered. Can you tell me where you were three nights ago?"


	47. Chapter 47

Bishop blinked a few times, staring straight ahead at Beckett but not really registering her presence.

Beckett, Castle and Hunt all looked at each other; waiting to see if that was all his reaction was going to be or if something else was going to happen.

"I can't say I'm sorry to hear that," Bishop said eventually.

"Mmm," Beckett breathed in response. There was something about the man in front of them that struck her as wrong. "Can I ask you where you were between nine pm and 4am three nights ago?"

"You can ask," Bishop answered, "And I might even tell you."

His voice had a cheeky tone to it and it annoyed Beckett no end. It wasn't that she wasn't used to not being afforded the respect that she should, that unfortunately happened a lot, but it wasn't usually from people in an office in the middle of the city, it usually came from the street thugs that got pulled in for various reasons. Beckett frowned at him and waited for him to continue to speak.

Bishop looked back at her, a smirk appearing on his face. Beckett glared at him.

Hunt noticed that Beckett was beginning to get annoyed and said, "You said you had a meeting to get to Mr Bishop. Detective Beckett isn't going to leave until we have an answer so you might as well just get it over with." His voice didn't leave any room for argument and Castle couldn't help but be impressed.

Bishop got the message and said, "I had a meeting until ten pm that night and then after that I did a bit of paper work here until about eleven, then I went home. I came back to the office at nine the next morning."

"Is there anyone who can verify that?" Beckett asked him.

"Well Cindy, the receptionist outside, was here until I left," Bishop told her, "I live alone but there are security cameras in the building I live in that you can check I'm sure."

Beckett nodded her head and wrote everything he had said down. "Thank you Mr Bishop," she then said before she stood.

Castle also stood and Hunt moved towards the door. Beckett and Castle followed him but then Beckett froze. Castle also stopped, which made Hunt pause too.

"What's up?" Castle hissed, too low for Bishop to hear.

"He's got a gun," she hissed in return, "And it looks like a 45."

Bishop must have realised that something was up because he stood and began to move. Beckett spun on the spot, using one hand to push Castle to one side, knowing that Hunt was already out of her line of fire, and drew her gun and pointed it at Bishop.

"Stop right where you are," Beckett ordered, holding the gun steady as Castle continued to move so that he was well clear.

Hunt moved to stand in front of him, beside Kate, using his body to protect Castle as Bishop kept moving and grabbed the gun from where it had been sitting in an open draw. It hadn't been obvious, the only reason Beckett had even noticed it was because she had seen it reflecting some of the light coming in through the window.

"I said stop right there," Beckett said forcefully.

Bishop held the gun in his hand but didn't raise it from where he was pointing it at the floor. "He had it coming," Bishop said, his hand and voice shaking as he spoke, "He ruined my life. He slept with my wife and now we can't even look at each other. He broke three of my ribs, my nose and covered me in bruises. I had to deal with the incessant staring and talking behind my back. My kids don't respect me anymore; they think it's my fault that their mom cheated, that I did something to make her want to get away."

"Mr Bishop," Beckett said in a low, calming voice, "I can see why you're angry but is this the way you want it to end? If you raise that gun I will shoot you. It may seem bad now but I'm sure you can work it out with your wife and with your kids and things will go back to the way they were before."

"Except I'll be in jail," Bishop disagreed, gesturing with his hand. It was the hand that held the gun but it was still pointed at the floor so Beckett refrained from pulling the trigger.

"But you'll be alive," Beckett bargained, "You can still see them; work on the relationships that need to be worked on, so that when you get out you still have them, you still have a chance at a life."

Castle could see that Bishop was beginning to waver, wanting to use the gun less and less, but that he was still thinking about it.

"Mr Bishop," Castle then said, taking over from Beckett and moving slightly so that he was out from behind Hunt. Hunt didn't look too happy about it but stayed out of the way as Castle continued to speak. "Think of your children. If you want to make up with them, turning yourself in would be a good start, getting shot by an NYPD homicide detective wouldn't be."

Bishop stared at him; then tilted his head to one side. He then looked down at the gun in his hand. Beckett held her gun more firmly, ready for anything. Hunt was staring at Bishop, waiting for any sign that this was going to go sideways, he may not have been there for Castle but if it came down to it he would jump in front of a bullet for either of them.

Everyone then jumped a little as the gun clattered to the floor.

"Ok, now put your hands on your head," Beckett ordered as she moved towards him, still aiming her gun at him.

Bishop did as she asked then Beckett lowered her gun and pulled out her cuffs. "Turn around."

Bishop turned around and Beckett cuffed him. "You are under arrest for the murder of Cameron Mitchell," she began, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you."

She then turned to Castle. "Can you get the gun please Castle?"

Castle nodded and moved to pick it up while Hunt looked Bishop up and down. He took a step forward but Beckett quickly stopped him in his tracks. "Stop right where you are Hunt, he is under arrest which means he is under the jurisdiction of the NYPD. You might get a chance to talk to him, you might not, now back off."

Hunt didn't look best pleased but he did nod and moved back towards the door. Castle picked up the gun then moved to stand beside Beckett.

"Hunt," Beckett then decided, "I said that if you helped us then I wouldn't arrest you so I'm giving you a chance to get in a taxi and leave, before me, or my Captain, or someone on my team finds some way of arresting you."

Hunt looked between Beckett and Castle before he sighed and nodded. "I'll come down with you."

The four of them headed out of the office, towards the lift. Beckett and Bishop went in front then Castle and Hunt followed up behind. They got out of the building and Beckett was just putting Bishop into the back of the car when Hunt turned to Castle.

"Can I talk to you for a moment Castle?" he asked.

Castle looked to Beckett and she said, "Go, but don't take too long, we need to get him back to the precinct."

Castle nodded and then Hunt moved away from Beckett and the car, Castle following behind him.

**So there you go, they've got the murderer. A few last chapters to wrap everything up then I should finally be able to put the story to bed.**


	48. Chapter 48

**So this only took me about an hour to write since I got so into it. I hope you like it.**

**Thanks for all the reviews as well, the last chapter received the 200th review for this story so thank you all. **

Hunt stopped and turned to look at Castle when he reached the side of the building. They were stood away from the door and out of the main flow of foot traffic so weren't going to be in anyone's way.

Castle stopped walking too and the two of them stood looking at each other. Castle didn't want to say anything until Hunt did, he was the one who had wanted to talk so he could start.

It took him a few seconds but then Hunt began to speak. "I wanted to thank you," he said in a low voice.

"For what?" Castle asked.

"For finding the killer," Hunt explained, "I'm not sure the people I work for would have bothered to find out what happened, and even if they had it wouldn't have been at the top of the list of priorities, we never would have found the killer as quickly as you and Detective Beckett have."

"It wasn't just us," Castle reminded him, "Ryan and Esposito had a lot to do with it, and your information helped too."

Hunt just smiled and nodded. He then looked into the distance and got a funny look on his face.

"You alright?" Castle asked him.

Hunt looked back to him and then nodded slowly. "I was just thinking," he said slowly, "About how you've grown into an amazing man who I am proud to call my son."

Castle blinked a few times, not really knowing what to make of that.

It didn't matter anyway because Hunt then continued to speak, "I know I wasn't around when you were growing up and I'm sorry for that, but I did what I thought was best, for you and for Martha. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret that decision but I stand by it." He looked Castle up and down. "I watched you grow and I was so proud that I had something to do with bringing you into the world. I'm sorry that I wasn't around but you've grown into an amazing man all on your own. You're a better father than I could have ever been and Alexis is lucky to have you. Martha is lucky to have you too, she's had to put up with a lot in her life and you have made it all that much easier and better for her, I just wish I could have been a part of it too."

Castle blinked a few times. "I understand why you did what you did," he said eventually, "It doesn't mean that I like it and that I don't resent you for it but I do understand why you did it."

"That's fair enough," Hunt accepted.

Castle nodded. "So I take it this is you saying goodbye," he muttered, "I expect you're going to take the out that Beckett gave you."

Hunt looked away before he nodded sadly. "I would like to stick around, but until all of this is put to bed, which won't be for a while because we can't risk a court case until after the mission is complete in case his real identity comes out, I need to go back to work, to get away from the city before someone finds a reason to arrest me."

Castle looked away. He had known that was coming but he had hoped that he had been wrong, Hunt hadn't been around for the beginning of his life but he would have liked to get to know him now.

Hunt was either thinking much the same thing or had been able to read what Castle was thinking from his expression because he said, "This won't be the last time you see me. And hopefully next time it will be under better circumstances."

"I hope so," Castle agreed, "I'd like to get to know you."

"And I you," Hunt replied.

"Will you see mother before you go?" Castle then asked.

Hunt thought for a moment then shook his head, "No, I don't want to make this any harder on her then it's already been. Maybe when I can stay around for longer I will come and see her but for now I'll just keep my distance."

Castle nodded then Hunt asked, "Can you give this to her though?" He pulled a folded envelope out of the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to Castle, "I wrote this for her, a sort of explanation."

Castle took the envelope with a nod and put it into his own pocket.

Hunt then looked back to Beckett, who was leaning against the side of the car waiting for them. "You should really get going," he said.

Castle nodded and the two headed back toward the car. Once at the car Hunt stopped in front of Beckett. "It was lovely to meet you Detective," he stated.

"It's been interesting," Beckett replied.

Hunt smiled and offered her his hand. Beckett took it and the two of them shook. Without letting go of her hand Hunt lent in closer to whisper in Beckett's ear. "Please look after him."

"I always do," Beckett assured him.

Hunt then moved away and let go of her hand. He then looked at Castle and said, "I really am proud to call you my son."

"Thanks," Castle responded before he hesitantly continued to say, "Dad."

Hunt smiled at him then pulled him into a hug. Castle stood in shock for a few moments before he hugged Hunt back. Hunt pulled away after a few seconds. He took a few steps back and said, "You look after this one Rick," referring to Beckett, "She's worth anything the world can throw at you."

Castle looked to Beckett before he looked back at his father. "I know," he agreed with a smile.

Hunt gave the two of them a nod then moved away, walking to the front of the car and whistling for a cab. One pulled up and Castle and Beckett watched as it disappeared into the traffic.

"Come on," Beckett muttered to Castle, "It's time we got back. I've rung Esposito and told him and Ryan to meet us back at the precinct, they don't need to question anyone else now that we've found the killer."

Castle nodded and the two of them then got into the car.

Once they were in and belted in Beckett started the engine. When they were in the traffic Bishop spoke. "Who was that man?" he asked.

Castle and Beckett shared a look, not really knowing what to say. "Um," Castle replied eventually, "He was someone who had a vested interest in the outcome of our murder investigation."

Bishop frowned but didn't say anything more as they continued on their way to the precinct, where Bishop was going to have to face the music for what he had done.

"What's the Captain going to say about you letting Hunt go?" Castle asked as they pulled up.

Beckett shrugged, "She knew that if he helped us I wasn't going to arrest him so she has probably already figured out that he's not coming back with us."

Castle nodded and then the two of them got out of the car. Beckett moved to the rear doors and let Bishop out. The three of them then headed to the lift and started on their way up to homicide.


	49. Chapter 49

The lift ride up was silent, no one speaking. Beckett and Castle stood side by side towards the back of the lift while Bishop stood in front of them, his hands still cuffed behind his back. Beckett kept an eye on him but she also snaked her hand into Castle's and held it, offering him support since his father had just left again.

While Castle appreciated the gesture he didn't feel he needed it. He had known that Hunt was going to leave again but he was also pretty sure that he would stick to his word and come back again at some point in the future. He may not have known who he was until a few days ago but now Castle realised that that was enough. He had managed alright without him for his whole life but him coming into it now made all of the pieces finally fit together. It was like there had been a small piece missing which was now back in place.

The lift reached the homicide floor and before the doors opened Beckett moved forward and placed a hand on Bishop's arm. Once the doors opened Beckett walked out, guiding Bishop along in front of her. Castle followed along behind while Beckett headed towards the interrogation room.

As the three of them walked past Ryan and Esposito, who were standing by the break room, Beckett gave them a nod before they continued on to the interrogation room. Once inside Beckett gestured for Bishop to sit and then took off his cuffs. She and Castle then turned and left, heading back out of the room and going towards Ryan and Esposito.

"So," Esposito said by way of greeting as they came to a stop in front of them, "How do you know that it was him?"

"Well I saw a gun," Beckett said, "Which is a 45 and will match the ballistics for the murder weapon and confronted him about it. He drew it but kept it aimed at the floor and then admitted to killing Mitchell. He said he did it because he ruined his life."

Esposito nodded while Ryan shook his head. From behind them they head Gates voice. "Good job Detective," she said, "I take it you have to gun."

Beckett nodded and turned to Castle. He pulled it out of his pocket and Ryan took it from him. "I'll get this down to ballistics and tell them to put a rush on it."

Gates nodded. "Go," she ordered, "He may have confessed but evidence is going to make this case stick."

Ryan walked away and then Gates turned her attention back to Beckett. "Where is Mr Hunt?" she asked.

"He's gone," Beckett answered, "I said that if he helped us he would have a chance to leave and he took it."

Gates nodded, although she didn't look too happy about it. "So our man is in interrogation and he's confessed," she stated eventually.

"Yes," Beckett said, "I've read him his rights but he hasn't asked for a lawyer or anything."

"Maybe you should just put him in the cells," Gates suggested, "We've already got a confession so we don't need to get one out of him."

Beckett nodded in agreement. "I'll get a uniform to take him down," she decided.

Gates nodded then looked between Beckett, Castle and Esposito. "Good job today," she said, "Take the rest of the day off. Sort out all the paper work tomorrow. You deserve a break."

"Thank you sir," Beckett accepted for them all.

Gates just nodded and then headed back into her office. Esposito pulled out his phone to text Ryan, to tell him that they could leave, while Beckett headed over to a nearby uniform to ask him to take Bishop down to holding.

Castle headed over to Beckett's desk but before he got there Gates called to him from her office. "Can I have a word please Mr Castle?"

Castle changed his course and headed towards her office. Gates was already sitting behind her desk when he entered and shut the door.

"Yes sir?" Castle asked, wondering why she had called him in.

"I was just wondering how you were doing Mr Castle," Gates said, "That man was your father and he's left again."

Castle nodded. "I'm ok thank you Captain," he replied honestly, "He said he'll be back once all of this has blown over, although we don't really know how long that will be since he said his people are going to supress any court case until their mission has come to fruition."

"I rather thought that might happen," Gates muttered, "I guess Bishop will just have to be locked up until then."

Castle nodded sadly. "I may not agree with what he did but I do understand why he did."

"Some cases are like that," Gates agreed, "We know what they did was wrong but we can see it from their point of view and understand why they did what they did."

Castle nodded and then looked out of the window towards where Beckett was standing at her desk, looking towards him inquisitively. Gates followed his gaze and said, "Go on Mr Castle."

Castle turned and smiled at her. "You make sure you treat her right," Gates suddenly said, shocking Castle into stillness. She must have seen Castle shock because she smiled. "I've known since the police picnic," she explained, "And I've known for even longer that there was a possibility of it happening."

Castle still didn't know what to say. He just stood blinking owlishly at her.

"I'm not going to do anything about it," Gates continued, "Because you aren't technically an employee here we can work around all the red tape, so long as you can keep up the same level of work that you have so far."

Castle nodded mutely. Gates smiled at him. "Go," she ordered.

Castle turned and headed out of the door and towards Beckett, who was stood waiting for him.

"What was that about?" she asked.

Castle looked towards Gates' office and saw that the woman herself was staring out of her window at the two of them, a knowing smile on her face. "I'll tell you later," Castle muttered, "Let's just go."

Beckett nodded in agreement and the two headed towards the lift. Esposito joined them and then the three of them waited for the lift to arrive. When it did arrive Ryan was inside so they decided to wait for him to go and grab his jacket so that they could all leave together.

**The next chapter will be the last chapter for this story and I must say that I'll glad to see it end. It's been on the go for a little over two years thanks to a busy life, other stories and writers block.**


	50. Chapter 50

**So this is the last chapter for this story. I want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed, I'm glad you liked it.**

They parted ways at the front door. Beckett and Castle getting in cab together, having decided on the way down that they were going to head back to Castle's loft for the evening. Ryan got in a cab and headed home while Esposito headed to the morgue to go and pick up Lanie.

In the cab Beckett turned to Castle. "Is it later yet?" she asked.

Castle smiled at her. "A little impatient are we?" he teased.

Beckett rolled her eyes but then stared at Castle, waiting for him to speak.

Castle sighed and said, "She just wanted to make sure that I was ok, she knew that he was my father and that he had left again."

"Well that's surprising," Beckett mussed.

Castle nodded. "That's not even the most surprising thing," he continued to say.

"Oh?" Beckett muttered.

"She knows about us," Castle explained.

"What's she going to do about it?" Beckett asked, "She's not kicking you out of the precinct is she?"

Castle was quick to shake his head. "No," he said, "She said that because I'm not actually employed by the NYPD we can work around the red tape, so long as we can keep up the same level of work as we always have."

Beckett was silent for a moment before she beamed at him. "That's good," she muttered eventually.

Castle nodded too and then the two of them shared a quick kiss.

It didn't take them long after that to reach the loft. Once they pulled up in front of Castle's building and paid, Castle insisting that he paid for all of it, they got out of the cab and headed into the building.

They got in the loft and headed up to the loft. Castle let them both in and as they were taking off their shoes and jackets Castle pulled the letter that Hunt had given him out of his pocket and left it on the side, ready to give the Martha when she got back.

"So," Beckett muttered five minutes later once they were both sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine, "Looks like this is really going to happen then. If Gates isn't going to kick you out then we don't have to worry about hiding this."

Castle smiled and nodded in agreement. "Although I think she might throw a fit if we start kissing in the middle of the precinct," he muttered.

Beckett laughed. Castle stared at her for a moment, loving the way she looked. She looked so relaxed and happy that Castle couldn't help but smile at her. Beckett saw that he was staring and asked, "What?"

Castle shook his head but Beckett continued to look him in the eye. "You look so happy," Castle explained finally, "I'm just glad that I can have something to do with that."

Becket reached out and cupped his check. "You have everything to do with it Rick."

Castle smiled back and the two of them sat like that for a long while. They only broke eye contact when they heard the door open and Martha came in.

"Hello," she greeted them both, "How's the case going?"

"We've solved it," Castle answered, standing and heading over to where he had left the letter.

There was a flash of something on Martha's face, which looked an awful lot like sadness, but then it was gone and the normal bubbly Martha was standing there. "I take it Hunt's gone," she said.

Beckett nodded. "I gave him an out and he took it, otherwise chances were he would have been arrested."

Martha nodded and then looked to Castle when he came over and placed a light hand on her shoulder. "He gave this to me," Castle explained, holding out the letter, "He said he wanted me to give it to you." He looked Martha up and down and then at the letter. "He said that he regretted what he did, leaving you and never being there, for either of us, but he said that he stands by that decision and would do it again if he got a do over." Martha nodded sadly then took the letter that Castle was offering her.

"I'll be in my room," she said before turning and heading up the stairs.

Castle and Beckett watched her go and then Beckett stood and moved to stand behind Castle. She reached around him and wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her chin on his shoulder. "You alright?" she whispered in his ear.

Castle nodded. "Yeah I am actually. I finally got to meet him after all this time and he was actually a decent man and to top it all off he's actually a spy. When I was a kid I always used to wonder what he did and I came up with all sorts of stories. Sometimes he was an astronaut, sometimes he was a superhero, but it was never anything boring. I even though that he could have been a spy. But as I got older I realised that they were just a child's fantasies and gave up on the idea. But I guess I was right, which is pretty cool."

Beckett chuckled into his shoulder. "Now that does sound like you. I can imagine you spinning stories in your head about your mysterious father."

Castle turned in her grasp and then wrapped his arms around her. The two stood like that for a few minutes before Beckett muttered into Castle's neck, "So what do you want to do now?"

"I vote for get some food in and watch a movie," Castle suggested, "It's still early so we've got time to do anything."

Beckett pulled away and smiled. "Sounds like a plan," she accepted.

"After that we can just see what happens," Castle suggested with a smirk.

Beckett laughed and shook her head before she moved closer and pressed her lips against Castle's. The two stood there, their lips locked together until they heard the door open again. They broke apart, their breathing a little laboured, and turned to look towards the sound.

Alexis was standing there, a smile on her face. "Hey," she greeted the two of them.

"Hey," Beckett and Castle responded in sync.

"You're home early," Alexis muttered.

"Gates let us go since we had a confession," Beckett explained.

"Cool," Alexis replied.

Beckett looked between Castle and Alexis. "Fancy joining us for a movie, or two?" she asked the girl.

Alexis thought for a moment before she nodded. "But if we're going to do that then we need to get into more comfortable clothes," she stated.

"I agree," Castle voiced. "How about we meet back here in ten, order some food, then stick on a movie?"

Alexis nodded and then headed up the stairs.

Once she was out of ear shot Beckett turned to Castle. "I don't have any spare clothes with me Castle."

"I'm sure we'll find you something," Castle said.

Alexis must have been thinking along the same lines as the two of them because they heard her say from the top of the stairs, "Would you like a pair of leggings Kate?"

Beckett looked up at her and smiled. "That would be great," she accepted.

Alexis smiled at her and headed into her room. While she was in there Castle muttered into Beckett's ear, "Well you can borrow one of my tops and then you'll be sorted."

Beckett smiled and then shivered slightly as Castle brushed his lips against her neck. He moved away when Alexis called from the top of the stairs. They both looked up and Alexis held up the leggings she'd found for Beckett. "Catch," she called before she threw them down to the pair.

Castle caught them and then handed them to Beckett. Alexis headed back into her room and then Castle took Beckett's hand the two of them headed into Castle's room.

"Help yourself," Castle muttered, gesturing to the chest of draws.

Beckett smiled and headed to the draws. Castle watched her for a moment before he headed into the en-suite. He wasn't too long, he just wanted to give his face a quick wash and go to the toilet before he got changed for the evening. He was out again quickly and said to Beckett, "Bathrooms free if you want it."

Beckett nodded and walked past him and into the bathroom, the leggings and top she'd chosen in her hands. Castle watched as the door shut behind her and then began to get changed himself.

Beckett looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She put the clothes beside the sink and then began to take her hair down from the ponytail it had been in all day. She contemplated putting it in a loose plait but then decided against it and just left it loose down her back.

Once that was done she quickly changed into the leggings that Alexis had lent her and the top she had taken from Castle. Once that was done she took a few breaths and then headed back into the bedroom.

Castle was sat on the bed waiting for her and smiled when she came out. "Nice top," he said with a smirk.

Beckett looked down at the top she was wearing and smiled, "I didn't even realise, I just picked one out."

Castle smiled at her. "Well I think it's very fitting."

Beckett smiled. She was wearing a Niki Heat promotional top.

"You ready?" Castle asked, offering her his hand.

Beckett nodded and took it and then the two of them headed back out to the lounge, where they could see Alexis sitting and waiting for them. "Nice top Kate," she said with a smile.

"Thanks," Beckett accepted. "So," she then said, "What does everyone fancy to eat?"

The three of them all sat on the sofa, Beckett sandwiched between the two Castles.


	51. Special Message

**This isn't actually another chapter this is just a quick note to the guest reviewer who is signing himself as JP. **

**Since I can't contact you any other way I feel the need to do this. You left a review for chapters 47 and 50 and I want to respond to what you said. **

**First off it's a story that I made up, so what if he had to sleep with someone's wife to get into a sleeper cell, maybe it was to show that he could be trusted to do as he was told, did you ever think of that, or maybe the man was a mark that they needed to rattle, either way there was no need to call my crazy, I've meet crazy and I most certainly am not that, because if I was then it really wouldn't be pretty.**

**As for what you said in your review for chapter 50, I'm English which means I use lift instead of elevator, it was meant to read, 'They got in the LIFT and headed up to the loft'. It was a mix up of one letter, which I didn't pick up on when I did in fact proof read the chapter. I may be an amateur writer but published novels from best selling authors sometimes have little spelling mistakes like that in, the people proof reading are only human and can't pick up on every little thing, specially when the word is spelt correctly in the first place, even if it is int the wrong place.**

**I appreciate that you left a name but there was no need to call my crazy and there was no need to call a character that I had come up with from scratch nutty. If you didn't like then you should have stopped reading rather than just picked holes. **

**I'm very proud of myself for not swearing once in this because all I have is swear words bouncing around in my head, it's been a tiring week and I can really do without being called names.**

**Sorry, rant over.**

**I just want to say another massive thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, and favourited this story. **


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